Aureobasidium spp.: Diversity, Versatility, and Agricultural Utility
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript "Aureobasidium spp.: diversity, versatility, and agricultural utility" is an interesting summary of the current knowledge on Aureobasidium fungi. However, it requires many additions in order to be published.
Detailed notes:
The manuscript was not sent in the form of the Horticulturae journal, it should be adapted to the requirements of the journal.
Corresponding author not indicated.
Line 24-36 - reference to literature is missing.
Line 50-52 - melanins are also a metabolite.
Chapter 3 - worth adding more information on how to distinguish between these species. You can also add information about the Aureobasidium line.
Line 305-309 - authors should supplement the information with examples of pullulan use, e.g. on tomatoes or blueberries.
Please add more information about the use of enzymes biosynthesized by Aureobasidium, which can be used in food technology.
The References section should be adapted to the requirements of the journal.
Author Response
REVIEWER #1
The manuscript "Aureobasidium spp.: diversity, versatility, and agricultural utility" is an interesting summary of the current knowledge on Aureobasidium fungi. However, it requires many additions in order to be published.
Detailed notes:
The manuscript was not sent in the form of the Horticulturae journal, it should be adapted to the requirements of the journal.
The authors thank the reviewer and reported highlighted in yellow all the suggested changes. We agreed, but presently we are using a common Word form as the Journal permitted to submit it.
Corresponding author not indicated.
All the authors are corresponding author (line 4)
Line 24-36 - reference to literature is missing.
We agreed with reviewer #1. Different references were added (from 2 to 8).
Line 50-52 - melanins are also a metabolite.
We agreed with the reviewer, and the metabolite was added at line 53.
Chapter 3 - worth adding more information on how to distinguish between these species. You can also add information about the Aureobasidium line.
We added some information (lines 93-97), however it is very difficult to morphologically distinguish Aureobasidium spp.
Line 305-309 - authors should supplement the information with examples of pullulan use, e.g. on tomatoes or blueberries.
We added some information about the use of pullulan coating of fruits and vegetables (line 324).
Please add more information about the use of enzymes biosynthesized by Aureobasidium, which can be used in food technology.
We agreed with reviwer#1. More information were added to the paragraph (lines 301-304)
The References section should be adapted to the requirements of the journal.
The references were adapted to the Journal requirements.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript is original, interesting and well-organized. Some comments are provided to authors below:
Introduction
L24-25: please revise the first sentence since it is not clear. Moreover, please check if the citation format is in line with the authors' guidelines.
L26-27: please revise this sentence, considering the presence of important traits that fungi possess, the roles they play in important ecological processes and the ecosystem services they provide for ecosystem functionality and human well-being.
L30: bioremediation is not only related to degradation of pollutants and toxins, please revise.
L34: I suggest changing "they can also be exploited" in "they can also play important roles"
L35-36: "However, some species are also important pathogens of animals (including humans), but especially of plants". Please explain why "especially of plants" to better clarify the sentence.
L38: please set all taxonomic ranks in italics with regards to Thines et al., 2020 (Thines, M., Aoki, T., Crous, P.W. et al. Setting scientific names at all taxonomic ranks in italics facilitates their quick recognition in scientific papers. IMA Fungus 11, 25 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-020-00048-6)
L24-39: it seems that there is no reference to support this part. Please revise.
L47: I would suggest checking and revising the use of the term "beneficials".
Section 2
L58: please revise the title, since it is not clear.
L96-97: please, change the format of "var.": it does not need to be in italics.
L107-109: please, provide a reference for this sentence.
I have noticed that sometimes the genus name of Aureobasidium is abbreviated, and in other cases it is not. Please, revise this aspect in the manuscript.
L138: please, revise the citation format.
L179-181: please revise this part, trying to use more specific terms.
L292: please check the term "terroirs", since it is not clear.
L303: I suggest indicating the specific names of fungal pathogens.
Please, check again all references. In particular:
N.23 page numbers are lacking;
N.35 Proteaceae in italics;
N. 48 and 59 Bacillus subtilis in italics;
N. 56 family name in italics;
N.68 delete ")";
N. 69 Botrytis cinerea in italics.
Author Response
REVIEWER #2
The manuscript is original, interesting and well-organized. Some comments are provided to authors below:
The authors thank the reviewer and reported highlighted in pink all the suggested changes.
Introduction
L24-25: please revise the first sentence since it is not clear. Moreover, please check if the citation format is in line with the authors' guidelines.
The first sentence was revised and the citation was reported as the rest (line 25-26).
L26-27: please revise this sentence, considering the presence of important traits that fungi possess, the roles they play in important ecological processes and the ecosystem services they provide for ecosystem functionality and human well-being.
We modified the sentence as suggested by reviewer#2
L30: bioremediation is not only related to degradation of pollutants and toxins, please revise.
We changed as rightly suggested by reviewer#2 (lines 31,32)
L34: I suggest changing "they can also be exploited" in "they can also play important roles"
We changed as suggested (lines 36-37)
L35-36: "However, some species are also important pathogens of animals (including humans), but especially of plants". Please explain why "especially of plants" to better clarify the sentence.
We agreed with the reviewer. The sentence was completed (line 39)
L38: please set all taxonomic ranks in italics with regards to Thines et al., 2020 (Thines, M., Aoki, T., Crous, P.W. et al. Setting scientific names at all taxonomic ranks in italics facilitates their quick recognition in scientific papers. IMA Fungus 11, 25 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-020-00048-6)
We agreed and all the taxonomic ranks were reported in Italics (line 41)
L24-39: it seems that there is no reference to support this part. Please revise.
We rightly inserted different references.
L47: I would suggest checking and revising the use of the term "beneficials".
We agreed and changed the sentence as suggested (line 50)
Section 2
L58: please revise the title, since it is not clear.
We revised the title as suggested (line 60)
L96-97: please, change the format of "var.": it does not need to be in italics.
We rightly changed the format as suggested (lines 104-105)
L107-109: please, provide a reference for this sentence.
We inserted a reference (line117).
I have noticed that sometimes the genus name of Aureobasidium is abbreviated, and in other cases it is not. Please, revise this aspect in the manuscript.
Usually, we leave the full name of the genus at the beginning of the sentence or if is the first time that is cited in the text. When the name is inside of the sentence or it has been already cited, it is abbreviated.
L138: please, revise the citation format.
We revised as suggested (line 147)
L179-181: please revise this part, trying to use more specific terms.
We changed the sentence (lines 188-189)
L292: please check the term "terroirs", since it is not clear.
We used the French term ‘terroir’ that is inclusive of any environmental features. However, we decide to change the word with grapevine environments (line 26).
L303: I suggest indicating the specific names of fungal pathogens.
We added as suggested the full names of fungal pathogens (line 319-320)
Please, check again all references. In particular:
N.23 page numbers are lacking;
We added page numbers.
N.35 Proteaceae in italics;
We modified it.
- 48 and 59 Bacillus subtilisin italics;
We modified as suggested.
- 56 family name in italics;
We modified it.
N.68 delete ")";
We deleted it.
- 69 Botrytis cinereain italics.
We modified as suggested.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Introduction section:
The authors must add up-to-date references to the first paragraph.
The paragraph at line 37 must be merged or expanded.
The sentence in line 52 must be changed. There are articles discussing the diversity and biocontrol potential of Aureobasidium spp. as a topic in the reviews.
In the paragraph at line 59, please be more specific. You can present some studies to describe the isolation sources, the environments, and the potential ecological roles of such isolated strains.
In the paragraph at line 64, the authors must be more specific. Please, clearly describe such physiological changes induced by the strains.
The paragraph in line 69 is not related to the target of this research article. Please, change for something related to symbiotic stressed plants or terrestrial environments.
In the paragraph at line 79, I feel that several topics are mixed. Restructuring and topic deepening are needed.
The references at line 89 must be reduced to avoid over-citations.
In the paragraph at line 88, all the references supporting each of these sentences must be provided. The same is for the paragraph on lines 104 and 124. And all the manuscript.
The sentence in line 150... to which study is related? Please specify.
line 163: ABA
Too many descriptions of the study in reference 26. This section looks like a summary of the main results of 26. Please, include more articles.
Line 206: Several biofungicides are available only in my country.
The review article requires a table summarizing the main studies performed in Aureobasidum, especially in the section talking about diversity
Schematic representations are strongly suggested
Author Response
REVIEWER#3
Introduction section:
The authors must add up-to-date references to the first paragraph.
We thank the reviewer and reported all the changes highlighted in blue. We inserted different references in the first paragraph as suggested by all the reviewers.
The paragraph at line 37 must be merged or expanded.
We connected the paragraph to the previous paragraph.
The sentence in line 52 must be changed. There are articles discussing the diversity and biocontrol potential of Aureobasidium spp. as a topic in the reviews.
We changed the sentence as reported at lines 56-58.
In the paragraph at line 59, please be more specific. You can present some studies to describe the isolation sources, the environments, and the potential ecological roles of such isolated strains.
We modified the first sentence that it is an introduction to the rest of the paragraph were all the characteristics were addressed in more detail (lines 61-62)
In the paragraph at line 64, the authors must be more specific. Please, clearly describe such physiological changes induced by the strains.
We inserted an explanation about the main factors that can influence the presence of Aureobasidium or other microorganisms on the phyllosphere and carposphere of plants and fruits resctively (lines 71-76)
The paragraph in line 69 is not related to the target of this research article. Please, change for something related to symbiotic stressed plants or terrestrial environments.
We partially changed that paragraph, however we can not exclude as Aureobasidium spp. habitat the aquatic environment (lines 74-76)
In the paragraph at line 79, I feel that several topics are mixed. Restructuring and topic deepening are needed.
We have restructured that part focusing on the possibility to take advantage by using cold resistant Aureobasidium strains during postharvest phase.
The references at line 89 must be reduced to avoid over-citations.
The references were reduced (line 95)
In the paragraph at line 88, all the references supporting each of these sentences must be provided. The same is for the paragraph on lines 104 and 124. And all the manuscript.
The references were reported (lines 100-113)
The sentence in line 150... to which study is related? Please specify.
The related reference was added (line 162)
line 163: ABA
The word was changed as suggested (lines 171-172)
Too many descriptions of the study in reference 26. This section looks like a summary of the main results of 26. Please, include more articles.
This is the most complete study conducted on the genetic traits of Aureobasidium spp.
Line 206: Several biofungicides are available only in my country.
In UE unfortunately no, if compared to synthetic one. However, a sentence to specify this concept was added. (Line 215)
The review article requires a table summarizing the main studies performed in Aureobasidum, especially in the section talking about diversity. Schematic representations are strongly suggested
We agreed with reviewer#3, so a table that summarize Aurebasidium studies was added (line 140)
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Manuscripy has been revised as recommended by the reviewer. I have no other comments.
Author Response
The authors thank the reviewer for his valuable contribution.
Here attached the last version of the Ms.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors state: This is the most complete study conducted on the genetic traits of Aureobasidium spp. The authors must include the other studies to complement this section
Author Response
We thank the reviewer for his important contribution. As suggested, we added more studies in that section (lines 160-184) (highlighted in blue). Consequently, all the references number were changed.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
