PONE-D-19-30939

What nature had separated, and human has joined together: about a spontaneous hybridization between two allopatric dogwood species (Cornus controversa and C. alternifolia)

PLOS ONE

Dear Mrs. Gawrońska,

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: In 'What nature had separated, and human has joined together: about a spontaneous hybridization between two allopatric dogwood species (Cornus controversa and C. alternifolia)', the authors explored a possible hybridization between two allopatric species, Cornus controversa and Cornus alternifolia via various approaches, including scanning electron microscope, combination of RAPD and AFLP, and ITS sequencing. Based on the data from those methods, the authors confirmed the hybridization, and inferred the hybridization direction from intergenic spacer sequences from chloroplast. The authors also found introgression from hybrid to C. controversa. This is an interesting study. The manuscript is generally well written and structured, the conclusion is supported by the data. Even though the number of samples/specimens included in this study is limited, the discussion is thorough and comprehensive.

Few comments:

1) In the abstract, avoid using acronyms.

2) Page 7, section "Plant material", it is not clear to me that how many tree samples are those 30 specimens collected from. If the number is less than 30, then why collecting multiple specimens from same sample?

3) Table 1, what does accession number mean? Does same accession number indicate the same tree/sample?

4) It would be interesting if the authors can include samples of the two speices from their original places and compare them with the current samples.

Reviewer #2: This study presents results of primary scientific research and to the reviewer’s knowledge are not reported and published elsewhere. The experiments, statistics and other analyses are performed to a high technical standard and the justification and rationale are outlined clearly throughout the paper. The conclusions are presented in a clear and sequential format supported by experimental data. The written English of this paper is not in question. Regarding ethics of experimentation and research, plant material here was collected and/or received in an ethical manner, and relevant acknowledgements were made. All necessary data has been made available either through supplemental material or through publicly accessible platforms.

Regarding minor revision:

Material

Table 1

The alignment of location and individual is not clear due to some table formatting issues.

A9 location information should be corrected to Fargo, North Dakota

Methods

For micromorphological observations, how many samples were used? This is listed for macromorphological analysis. Was it the same for both? If so, then please clarify.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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What nature separated, and human joined together: about a spontaneous hybridization between two allopatric dogwood species (Cornus controversa and C. alternifolia)

PONE-D-19-30939R1

Dear Dr. Gawrońska,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

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With kind regards,

Pawel Michalak

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments: