Morpho-Biochemical Modification of Petunia to Saline Water and Salicylic Acid Applications

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

congratulations for the work done, attached some suggestions.

Best regards.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Prof

Thank you for your valuable comments. We also appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to providing insightful feedback on ways to strengthen our manuscript. We have incorporated changes that reflect the detailed suggestions you have graciously provided. We think that the manuscript has been greatly improved by these revisions and hope that our edits and the responses we provide below satisfactorily address all the issues and concerns you have noted. The necessary corrections have been written in The red lines in the manuscript. To facilitate your evaluation, the following is a point-by-point response to the questions and comments

Abstract

I highly recommend summarizing the introductory section (from line 9 to 14), focusing on the trial starting at line 11.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, as indicated in the revised manuscript we rewrite these sentences.

In line 14, you referred to a 'factorial' experiment. Please provide a detailed explanation of all the experimental factors under study. For instance, clarify the first experimental factor as well as the second one…

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, as indicated in the revised manuscript lines 13-15 we introduce the experimental factors.

In the abstract, it may be more concise to specify only the city (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) for the experiment location and provide further details in the Materials and Methods section to enhance the location's description

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, as indicated in the revised manuscript line 13 we follow your suggestion and introduce the city only, and then in the Material and Method section we introduce the location’s description (lines 79-81).

In lines 17, 19 and 22, it should be beneficial indicates the unit of measure in this way mg l-1. I recommend splitting the sentence from lines 19 to 21 into two separate sentences. This will enhance clarity.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, as indicated in the revised manuscript we checked all over the manuscript and identified the units as well as separated the sentences into 2 sentence line 19-22

I recommend rephrasing the last sentence of the abstract to better convey the intended meaning without using the term “lessen the mutilation”. Probably it doesn’t fit with the context.

Thank you for your comments, we do it

Introduction

In line 27: accessibility and availability. I recommend providing a more distinct explanation for both 'accessibility,' referring to the ease of reaching and using a resource, and 'availability,' which relates to the presence or existence of the resource.

Thank you for your comments, we added water availability Line 27

In line 31: “plant growth and development” fits better than “plant establishment”.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, we changed line 31

I recommend splitting the sentence from lines 32 to 35 into two separate sentences. This will enhance clarity.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, we separated it into 2 sentences as indicated in the revised manuscript line 32-34.

I highly recommend the same procedure from line 38 to 41. Additionally, check the verb in line 38.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, we separated it into 2 sentences as indicated in the revised manuscript line 37-38.

To improve the clarity of the sentence and make it more concise, you can change the verb "be able to be seen" in line 43.

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, we changed to can Line 40

In line 45, describe better (in max two lines), how salt concentration affects blooming characteristic, as you mentioned

Thank you for your comments, I totally agree with your suggestions, as indicated in the revised manuscript Lines 43-45 we introduce a short paragraph on salinity effects on flowering

In line 57 I suggest to change the verb “increase”, looking for a more appropriate verb (enhance, boost ecc..).

Thank you for your comments, we changed into boost line 58

Separate the paragraph starting form line 68 in which You describe the aim of the work.

Thank you for your comments, we separated them into a new paragraph lines 70-75.

I strongly recommend enhancing the introduction section by integrating all these manuscripts to provide a deeper insight into how plants respond metabolically to both endogenous and exogenous stressors.

• Yang, X., Lu, M., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Liu, Z., & Chen, S. (2021). Response mechanism of plants to drought stress. Horticulturae, 7(3), 50.
• Ondrasek, G., Rathod, S., Manohara, K. K., Gireesh, C., Anantha, M. S., Sakhare, A. S., ... & Horvatinec, J. (2022). Salt stress in plants and mitigation approaches. Plants, 11(6), 717.
• Branca, F., & Argento, S. (2009, May). Evaluation of saffron pluriannual growing cycle in central Sicily. In III International Symposium on Saffron: Forthcoming Challenges in Cultivation, Research and Economics 850 (pp. 153-158).
• Ali, Z. H., & Ali, F. H. (2022, October). Influence of salicylic acid on the physiological properties of two petunia species. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2398, No. 1). AIP Publishing.
• Naing, A. H., Campol, J. R., Kang, H., Xu, J., Chung, M. Y., & Kim, C. K. (2022). Role of ethylene biosynthesis genes in the regulation of salt stress and drought stress tolerance in petunia. Frontiers in plant science, 13, 844449.
• Peng, Y., Yang, J., Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Salicylic acid: biosynthesis and signaling. Annual review of plant biology, 72, 761-791.
• Argento, S., Treccarichi, S., Melilli, M. G., & Branca, F. (2023). Grafting Compatibility and Environmental Conditions on Soilless Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Grown in the Mediterranean Greenhouse. Horticulturae, 9(9), 1060. Materials and methods

Thank you for your comments, we used more suitable references above and used three new more suitable references as indicated in the revised manuscript including, Ali and Ali 2022; Peng et al., 2021; Ondrasek et al., 2022

I think fits better in line 75 “Experimental setup” than “E. layout” Change mg/l in mg l-1. Follow this criterium for all the unit of measurements, please.

Thank you for your comments, we checked and changed the manuscript

Specify better the experimental factors under examination and the experimental design. It is a split plot?

Thank you for your comments, but the pot experiment favors a completely randomized block design

“Fertilization was repetitive” in line 101. Please correct.

Thank you for your comments, we changed to “Fertilization was added four 100 times every… “ line 100-101

In line 104 remove “:”

Thank you for your comments, we removed it.

Make Table 1 fit better with the text, you'll need to adjust the table's content, layout, or placement based on the specific details of your table and text.

Thank you for your comments, we changed some Tables into figures including Table 1.

I propose the inclusion of a table in section 2.3, presenting descriptors, their corresponding codes (e.g., 'plant height' as 'PH'), and the associated units of measure

Thank you for your comments, we changed into corresponding codes as indicated in the revised manuscript Lines 106-110 and Lines 137-149.

3 Line 108: Correct “plant-1”

Thank you for your comments, we changed it

In section 2.4, it's important to note that SPAD represents a physiological measurement rather than a chemical analysis.

Thank you for your comments, we changed the title to Physiological and Chemical Analysis line 111

In line 130: CoHort software? Do You mean CoStat maybe? Explain better which ANOVA you performed (2 or 3 ways). Have You normalized the data before?

Thank you for your comments, as indicated in the revised manuscript lines 129-134 we used COSTATC software; we used two-way ANOVA; after doing a normalization test.

Results

In Table 2, 3, 4, 5 I really don’t understand the codes of interaction. Please, elucidate in the Table description and in material and methods section, clarifying better the experimental factors studied.

Thank you for your comments, we changed some Tables into figures including Table 1.

Discussion

Starting from line 257 to 294, the Discussion section appears to have a significant overlap with the introduction. It is recommended to restructure this section by introducing the results and then discussing their correlation with previous studies while explaining the underlying mechanisms

Thank you for your comments, we checked and revised the discussion section according to your recommendation

correct the font in line 351

Thank you for your comments, we changed it

Rewrite the Discussion section in the same way of the line with the scheme you reported from 373 to 382. You can structure the paragraph as follows: Introduce your result. Use the reference to explain the mechanism that motivates your thesis.

Thank you for your comments, we checked and revised the discussion section according to your recommendation

Conclusion

Add additional results, the context within your study was developed and the future perspective.

Thank you for your comments, we added a future perspective in Lines 387-389 “However, additional investigation is required to entirely recognize the best concentrations and conditions for SA usage to attain supreme benefits under saline water application”

Once more, thank you for giving us the opportunity to strengthen our manuscript with your valuable comments and queries. We have worked hard to incorporate your feedback and hope that these revisions persuade you to accept our submission.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Sincerely

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Editors and Authors,

I read with interest the manuscript entitled “Response of growth, flowering, and some biochemical trials of petunia to irrigation with saline water and salicylic acid”, which sought to this investigation was to assess the SA's impacts on petunia plant growth, flowering, ion content, chlorophyll level, and proline concentration within irrigation with saline water. The article's subject is important and relevant to the study area's scientific environment. Therefore, the manuscript needs some adjustments so that it can then be forwarded to the publication process. The manuscript has the potential for publication in the journal Horticulturae and needs the following adjustments:

TITLE

- Remove the words “Response”.

- “some biochemical trials” I suggest removing or replacing. This way, this information becomes generic to have in the title.

ABSTRACT

- The objective must be the same as what is present in the Introduction.

- In the section on Material and Methods, add information about the analyses carried out.

- Replace repeated keywords in the title.

INTRODUCTION

- Add justification for the study and hypotheses. Insert this information in the same paragraph as the objective.

- Reorganize the objective. Simplify for better understanding. There is one or more objectives...

MATERIAL AND METHODS

- Enter more information about the study location.

- Were SPAD readings taken on 9 leaves/plant or 9 measurements/leaf? Review this information.

-

RESULTS

- Avoid using terms such as “expressively”, and “significantly”...

- I suggest replacing the Tables with Figures. It improves readers' understanding and improves the visual quality of the work.

DISCUSSION

- In the Discussion there is a lot of information that is not necessary for the research. There is information similar to an introduction or literature review. The discussion should be based on the results found in this research. Review this entire section.

CONCLUSION

- The text mentions several things about photosynthetic pigments. The only analysis was performed with SPAD, which is an indirect measure. I suggest you talk about the SPAD index and not photosynthetic pigments.

Author Response

Dear Prof

Thank you for your valuable comments. We also appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to providing insightful feedback on ways to strengthen our manuscript. We have incorporated changes that reflect the detailed suggestions you have graciously provided. We think that the manuscript has been greatly improved by these revisions and hope that our edits and the responses we provide below satisfactorily address all the issues and concerns you have noted. The necessary corrections have been written in The red lines in the manuscript. To facilitate your evaluation, the following is a point-by-point response to the questions and comments

Dear Editors and Authors,

 I read with interest the manuscript entitled “Response of growth, flowering, and some biochemical trials of petunia to irrigation with saline water and salicylic acid”, which sought to this investigation was to assess the SA's impacts on petunia plant growth, flowering, ion content, chlorophyll level, and proline concentration within irrigation with saline water. The article's subject is important and relevant to the study area's scientific environment. Therefore, the manuscript needs some adjustments so that it can then be forwarded to the publication process. The manuscript has the potential for publication in the journal Horticulturae and needs the following adjustments:

Thank you for your valuable comments

 TITLE

 - Remove the words “Response”.

- “some biochemical trials” I suggest removing or replacing. This way, this information becomes generic to have in the title.

Thank you for your valuable comments, we totally agree with your suggestions. As indicated in the revised manuscript we changed the manuscript title to “”Morpho-Biochemical Modification of Petunia to Saline Water  and Salicylic Acid Applications””

ABSTRACT

 - The objective must be the same as what is present in the Introduction.

- In the section on Material and Methods, add information about the analyses carried out.

- Replace repeated keywords in the title.

Thank you for your valuable comments, we changed it as indicated in revised manuscript. Additionally, we removed the repeated words from the keyword section

INTRODUCTION

 - Add justification for the study and hypotheses. Insert this information in the same paragraph as the objective.

- Reorganize the objective. Simplify for better understanding. There is one or more objectives...

Thank you for your valuable comments, we totally agree with your suggestions, we revised and corrected the objectives of our investigation as well as indicated the hypothesis followed

MATERIAL AND METHODS

 - Enter more information about the study location.

Thank you for your valuable comments, we totally agree with your suggestions, and as indicated in the revised manuscript we introduce the location’s description (lines 79-81).

- Were SPAD readings taken on 9 leaves/plant or 9 measurements/leaf? Review this information.

Thank you for your valuable comments, as shown in the revised manuscript line 114 we do 9 measurements/5^th upper leaves

RESULTS

- Avoid using terms such as “expressively”, and “significantly”...

Thank you for your valuable comments, we totally agree with your suggestions, we checked the manuscript and avoided some verb uses

- I suggest replacing the Tables with Figures. It improves readers' understanding and improves the visual quality of the work.

Thank you for your comments, we totally agree with your suggestions, we changed some Tables into figures as indicated in revised manuscript

DISCUSSION

- In the Discussion there is a lot of information that is not necessary for the research. There is information similar to an introduction or literature review. The discussion should be based on the results found in this research. Review this entire section.

Thank you for your comments, we checked and revised the discussion section according to your recommendation

CONCLUSION

- The text mentions several things about photosynthetic pigments. The only analysis was performed with SPAD, which is an indirect measure. I suggest you talk about the SPAD index and not photosynthetic pigments.

Thank you for your comments, we totally agree with your suggestions, and we changed to chlorophyll index line 387

Once more, thank you for giving us the opportunity to strengthen our manuscript with your valuable comments and queries. We have worked hard to incorporate your feedback and hope that these revisions persuade you to accept our submission.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Sincerely

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors

congratulations for the work done, the work is improved.

King regards

Reviewer 2 Report

The article was revised and the authors made most of the suggestions for improvement. Still needs some small adjustments before publication.

- Separation of measurement units. The correct one is: mg L-1