The Genus Chrysosporium: A Potential Producer of Natural Products
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The review entitled "Genus Chrysosporium: A Potential Producer of Natural Products" is designed to highlight the biochemical importance of different fungal strains belonging to the genus Chrysosporium covering the period of 1984-2021. This genus was found to be a good source for not only new secondary metabolites but also most of these metabolites showed various and potential bioactivities.
I agree with the authors for their selection of this particular fungal genus to write a review about. Such a review on this topic should help other microbial natural products researchers in strain prioritization and pay more attention to species belonging to this genus. I would like to highlight that the authors did a good job of collecting relevant literature on that genus including the compounds' names, structures, and biological activities.
However, despite the good selection of the review topic, the article's information is not too organized in terms of the way the information was presented and the English structure of the sentences. I was confused while reading most of the review. When the sentences should be finished or continued, was a repeating problem and led to difficult understanding. The order of most of the information presented also should be reconsidered in terms of which data should be represented first and so on.
I think the review should be revised, restructured, and resubmitted.
Author Response
Thanks very much for your kind suggestion.
The language in our manuscript has been carefully reviewed and edited by MDPI English editing service. The English-editing-certificate was submitted.
The introduction has been restructured to be more organized.
The bioactivity data of Tables 1−3 have been advanced to the location of their first appearance.
The order of the compounds was first divided into different activities and then restructured according to the year of isolated from the genus Chrysosporium in Tables 1−3, and 2. Cytotoxic activity, 3. Antibacterial activity, 4. Antifungal activity, 5. Enzyme inhibition and 6. Other biological activities.
In Table 4, the compounds have been rearranged according to the number of different chemical structure types.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
I am very grateful you for the invitation to review the manuscript fermentation-2084020 by Wang and coauthors "Review Genus Chrysosporium: A Potential Producer of Natural Products”. This study reported the sources, distribution, biological activities and structural characteristics of the compounds isolated from Chrysosporium from 1984 to 2021. The work is interesting but needs a few adjustments to increase the quality of the material.
Comments:
- Abstract: Please indicate the classification of Chrysosporium in the sentence.
- Abstract, Lines 11-12: Indicate the classic uses and new applications for obtaining products.
- Abstract, Lines 14-16: The sentence is confusing. Please describe better.
- Abstract, Lines 18: include the main activities verified or the most usual activities.
- Line 40-41, Keywords: Change the repeated keywords by different words from the title.
- Introduction, Lines 21: Indicate at first appearance the identification as a fungus.
- Line 36: Specify the main secondary metabolites.
- Lines 35-38: Unify the sentences since they present similar information.
- Lines 42-43: The same information was presented in line 24.
- Introduction: Restructure the order of the paragraphs. Collating chronology information after presenting Chrysosporium characteristics.
- Introduction: I suggest the inclusion of a Chrysosporium characterization topic before presenting bioactivities and other information.
- An item on the main purification techniques applied may be needed.
- 3. Antibacterial activity and 4. Antifungal activity: Include the main mechanisms associated with the antimicrobial effect.
- Despite presenting several studies on the bioactivities of the metabolites, no information is presented on real or practical applications of the same.
- Authors should review the structure of the conclusion, as this type of presentation is not usual. Much information that would be important as items throughout the work is presented only in the conclusion.
- Please include critical discussion on advances, negative aspects and prospects of metabolite production by Chrysosporium.
Author Response
Thanks very much for your kind comments, we had revised our manuscript carefully according to your comments point to point. The changes in our new version of manuscript were highlighted in red.
- Question: - Abstract: Please indicate the classification of Chrysosporium in the sentence.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The classification of Chrysosporium has been supplied in the first sentence of abstract, and has been provided in the first sentence of introduction.
- Question: - Abstract, Lines 11-12: Indicate the classic uses and new applications for obtaining products.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind comment. The first sentence in abstract was confused and it has been changed as “Chrysosporium, a genus of ascomycete fungi in the family Onygenaceae, has the ability to produce abundant new bioactive natural products, supporting structural foundation in drug development”. All the known and new natural products are all support the structural foundation in drug development.
- Question: - Abstract, Lines 14-16: The sentence is confusing. Please describe better.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The sentence has been changed as “The results show that 66% of the compounds isolated from Chrysosporium are new natural products. More than half of the Chrysosporium isolated compounds are from marine-derived Chrysosporium”.
- Question: - Abstract, Lines 18: include the main activities verified or the most usual activities.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The activities have been supplied in lines 19 and 20.
- Question: - Line 40-41, Keywords: Change the repeated keywords by different words from the title.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The repeated keyword has been changed.
- Question: - Introduction, Lines 21: Indicate at first appearance the identification as a fungus.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The fungus Chrysosporium was first established by Corda in 1833 with C. corii as the model species.
- Question: - Line 36: Specify the main secondary metabolites.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The main secondary metabolites have been supplied in line 43.
- Question: - Lines 35-38: Unify the sentences since they present similar information.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The two sentences have been unified.
- Question: - Lines 42-43: The same information was presented in line 24.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind remind. The same information has been deleted.
- Question: - Introduction: Restructure the order of the paragraphs. Collating chronology information after presenting Chrysosporium
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. The Chrysosporium characteristics have been supplied in the first paragraph of introduction.
- Question: - Introduction: I suggest the inclusion of a Chrysosporium characterization topic before presenting bioactivities and other information.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. The Chrysosporium characterization topic has been supplied in the first paragraph of introduction.
- Question: - An item on the main purification techniques applied may be needed.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. The main purification techniques have been supplied in section 7. Purification techniques of the compounds isolated from Chrysosporium.
- Question: - 3. Antibacterial activity and 4. Antifungal activity: Include the main mechanisms associated with the antimicrobial effect.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. The possible antimicrobial mechanism of compounds 13, 7 in section 3. Antibacterial activity and 12 in section 4. Antifungal activity has been supplied.
- Question: - Despite presenting several studies on the bioactivities of the metabolites, no information is presented on real or practical applications of the same.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. Although there are many secondary metabolites with various bioactivities produced by the genus Chrysosporium, there is no research about the practical applications of these compounds, to be best of our knowledge.
- Question: - Authors should review the structure of the conclusion, as this type of presentation is not usual. Much information that would be important as items throughout the work is presented only in the conclusion.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. Chrysosporazines, as well as their derivatives, belonging to the rare family of phenylpropanoid piperazine alkaloids, are the characteristic natural products of the genus Chrysosporium. And they are also the main secondary metabolites of the genus Chrysosporium, accounting for over one third of all the compounds isolated from Chrysosporium. The important information has been presented throughout the work in lines 135−140, 248−258 and 384−392.
- Question: - Please include critical discussion on advances, negative aspects and prospects of metabolite production by Chrysosporium.
Answer: Thanks very much for your kind suggestion. The advances, negative aspects and prospects of metabolite production by Chrysosporium have been supplied in Tables 1−3.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
After carefully checking the responses and the revisions, the manuscript is suggested to be accepted by fermentation.
