BcBZR1 Regulates Leaf Inclination Angle in Non-Heading Chinese Cabbage (Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis Makino)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Authors report on the role that BcBZR1 plays during leaf inclination regulation in non-heading Chinese cabbage. The study objectives were clear, structure is well organised and overall, scientifically sound. However, there are a few areas that need some improvement as detailed below:

-          Grammar is appalling. The different sections of the manuscript read better but can be improved. Too many abbreviations have been used without being described first time being mentioned.

-          Scientific names, and gene names must be italicised. Headings and subheading must also be uniformly written.

-          Abstract can also be improved, especially in the first two sentences and the repetition towards the end.

-          Grammar improvements are also necessary in the Introduction whereby Authors failed to adhere to simple writing rules (see Line 32), and as indicated above, for this and other sections of the manuscript. Abbreviations must be used properly.

-          Line 39, authors suggest that readers know what CDC48 stands for and role??? Line 63, perhaps replace "regulation mechanisms" with "regulatory mechanism".

-          Under MM, improvements are also necessary. See Line 78, 95, 98, 107, 135, 215…. Subheading 2.2 should be changed to "Sequence Analysis of B…." Even section 3.1 should be rephrased.

-          Authors need to clearly indicate that transfection in Arabidopsis was done to evaluate subcellular localization of the gene… otherwise, it causes a little confusion at first and in its current form since evaluations were done in a different species. However, there is no need to justify the transformation in Arabidopsis.

-          Line 177 on the ANOVA mean values needs to be improved., including 324-325.

-          Authors should avoid stating that they "speculate" rather they use the word "suggest" or "hypothesize".

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Quality of English can be Improved.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

A brief summary

The manuscript reported the identification, sequence analysis, function and localization of the BcBZR1 from the non-heading Chinese cabbage cultivar 'heitacai'. Brassinosteroids regulate the differential expression of PRE1 and IBH1 affecting leaf inclination angle. The function of BcBZR1 in leaf inclination angle distribution has been validated. Overexpression of BcBZR1 in Arabidopsis causes leaf inclination angle decreasing. EBR treatment leads to reduced leaf inclination angle in non-heading Chinese cabbag. The mechanism of regulating the leaf inclination angle under cold stress has been studied.

General concept comments

The manuscript is relevant for the field, and it is very well written and structure. The design is appropriated. The authors used software and protocols. The introduction is clear and complete, the results are reproducible based on the details given in the methods section. The references are missing the DOI, they should be corrected, following the authors guideline. No self-citation detected. Figures have good resolution and are reported correctly. Conclusions are in accordance with the arguments that have been presented. Ethic statements and data availability statements are suitable.

 Specific comments 

Lines 70-71: scientific names and “in vivo” should be reported in italics.

Line 157: it should be N-terminal 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The current study is well written and presents robust data; however, some details need to be reviewed:

Line 15. Change “The BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1) and BRI1-EMS-SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) act factor in…” to “The BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1) and BRI1-EMS-SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) act transcription factor in…”.

Line 32. Change “The Angle between…” to “The angle between…”.

Line 38. Authors need to be more precise in scientific writing. A work published in a scientific journal does not mean that it will only be accessed by researchers in the field. So, is CDC48 a gene or protein? Make this clear in: “promote the expression of CDC48”

Line 62, 71, and 363. It is reported Cruciferae Family; however, although it is a cruciferous plant, the botanical name of the family is Brassicaceae. Please change Cruciferae in lines 62, 71, and 363 to Brassicaceae.

Line 172. The Figure 2 needs to be corrected. It is described as “steam”, when it should be stem.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf