Morphological, Physiological and Biochemical Changes in the Grape Variety “Hotan Red” Caused by the Occurrence of Stress Under the Influence of Saline–Alkaline Growing Conditions
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
Grapes are an important fruit in many world regions and it is the point of continuous research. The manuscript highlights useful data for the grapevine grower, that could be used in practice.
The manuscript is relevant to the grape grower and the scientific community and is presented in a well-structured manner.
There are a few points to address to the authors:
- the authors should present the genetic origin of Hotan Red grapes – it is important to understand and justify the results
- Were the seedlings for the experiment obtained by green cutting or seeds?
- the climatic conditions in the experimental field/greenhouse are important to sustain the results – temperature, light intensity, length of day/night, and air humidity and should be presented in the paper
- The results are appropriately interpreted and compared with other studies on the same topic.
- The discussions and conclusions section is well presented, with proper arguments to sustain the results.
- There are recent references on the topic of the manuscript
The research released in the article is useful for grape growers in deciding the proper maintenance technologies in challenging soil-type areas
The article has an interesting view of data and is well-documented for a better understanding of the presented research.
Thank you!
Author Response
Comments 1: The authors should present the genetic origin of Hotan Red grapes.
Response 1: Thanks to the reviewer's suggestion. 'Hotan Red' belongs to the Eurasian grape, which originated in China and is the main cultivated variety in the Hotan region of Xinjiang. We have added this description.
Comments 2: Were the seedlings for the experiment obtained by green cutting or seeds?
Response 2: Our vines are obtained by tissue culture of grape shoot segments. We have added a description of this in Materials and Methods and the method of tissue culture of ‘Hotan Red’ grape shoot segments in Supplementary Material.
Comments 3: The climatic conditions in the experimental field/greenhouse are important to sustain the results temperature, light intensity, length of day/night, and air humidity and should be presented in the paper.
Response 3: Thanks for the good advice. The temperature of the culture room is 25±3℃, the air humidity is 65±2%, the light intensity is 4000-5000 Lx, and the day and night length is 16h/8h. We have added this description.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReplace some section according to comments. In part Discusion add more references related to grape and problems with growing under soil salinity. material and method are described excellent.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Comments 1: In my opinion title of the paper can be changed.
Response 1: Thanks to the reviewer's suggestion. We have revised this description.
Comments 2: Grape is present in which per cent in this region?
Response 2: Thanks to the Reviewer for the reminder. The Xinjiang grape-growing area and its production constituted 17.16% and 20.58% of the country's total, respectively. We have added this in the introduction of the paper.
Comments 3: This introduced variety was grown on its own root or does it use grafted plant material?
Response 3: Thanks for the good advice. On some lands in Xinjiang with healthy soils, self-rooted grapes can generally be grown directly. In saline-alkali soils, they are generally grafted onto conventional saline-resistant rootstocks, such as Paulsen 1103, Richter 110 and Sélection Oppenheim 4, but are still subject to saline-alkali stress. We have added this in the introduction of the paper.
Comments 4: Cardio protectiv, antidiabetic, anticancer?
Response 4: We thank the referee for suggesting these. In response to the comments made by the reviewers, we have added the following revisions to the paper.
Comments 5: The second part must be Material and Methods. Please change the order of the section and check all sub-sections.
Response 5: Thanks to the reviewer's suggestion. We have revised this description.
Comments 6: after how many days, on average... This is important because plants can express individual tolerance to saline-alkali stress, and through this, it is possible to separate more tolerant plants before they die.
Response 6: Thanks for the good advice. Following the S4 treatment, a significant proportion of the plants exhibited signs of death after 15 days. We have provided additional notes at the appropriate places in the paper.
Comments 7: Subsections 2.2. and 2.3. are written in almost the same way. With increasing salinity, it is decreasing... Please make changes in general comments, not as a result of how they are present.
Response 7: Thanks to the reviewers' suggestions, we have made changes to the paper.
Comments 8: in the Discussion, it is need to add more relevant references related to other authors from other countries and their experience in grape growing under salinity effect.
Response 8: According to the comments, we have added research related to how grapes react to salt stress to the paper.
