Electroactive Bacteria in Natural Ecosystems and Their Applications in Microbial Fuel Cells for Bioremediation: A Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript is well-written and only needs a few typo corrections. Please refer to the attachment for detailed comments.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Reviewer1:
The manuscript reviewed exoelectrogens and their MFC-based applications, with a focus on bioremediation and synergistic interaction between the microbes and microbes/plants. The review also brings attention to the basic goals of MFC: water treatment and environmental remediation. Thus, I believe this work can be a good reference source or inspiration to researchers in related fields. I think this work is suitable for publication with the minor concerns addressed.
1. Page 4, line 128. Typo of “Proteobacteria”. The phylum name should not be in italic.
2. Page 4, line 137. Typo of “odensis”.
I thank you very much the referee for the positive comments.
Regarding the suggestions, both typos have been corrected
Reviewer 2 Report
I would suggest the information concerning the effectiveness of electrogenic bacteria (EB) in media containing substances of low biodegradability or toxicity to be presented in a separate sub-chapter.
MEC as a basic BES should reviewed as well. Actually the interaction anode-EB is the same in MFC
Author Response
I would suggest the information concerning the effectiveness of electrogenic bacteria (EB) in media containing substances of low biodegradability or toxicity to be presented in a separate sub-chapter.
Thank you for your useful suggestions. All the improvements have been highlighted in blue in the text.
Reply: We have added a new paragraph: “5. MFCs for wastewater contaminant removal” (see page 6, line 203). Moreover, persistent and toxic compounds have been reported in another paragraph: “6. MFCs for bioremediation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals”, as you have indicated (see page 8 line 292).
MEC as a basic BES should reviewed as well. Actually the interaction anode-EB is the same in MFC.
Reply: Thank you for your useful observation. We have added MEC in the list of BES (including a reference) in the introduction section, and specified better the main aim of this review (see page 2 lines 64-68). This review is focused on prokaryotic groups, directly or indirectly involved in the production of electricity within MFCs and in their applications for bioremediation. MECs are used for production of green hydrogen from organic matter and a low voltage needs to be provided for driving hydrogen production under biological conditions. This technology is very interesting and can be explored and deepened in another review.
