PONE-D-20-21345

Potency of gastrointestinal colonization and virulence of Candida auris in a murine endogenous candidiasis

PLOS ONE

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Shankar Thangamani, DVM, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

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The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: No

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Overall the paper is clearly presented and the conclusions appear sound based on the available evidence. Minor grammatical corrections are needed, and some methodological clarifications are detailed below.

• Line 54: The authors mention exogenous infection here but doesn’t elaborate on any clinical significance associated with this form of infection.

• Line 56: An article is needed between “particular” and “gastrointestinal”

• Line 125-126: Why were kidney homogenates not plated on YPD agar with antibiotics? What is the rationale behind the different antibiotic conditions for these homogenates?

• Line 144: Grammatically this line is difficult to read, specifically “removed for excluding”.

• Line 158: What physiological signs were used to designate a mouse as moribund?

• Line 241-243: Is there anything about AR0390 that suggests why it produced biofilms at a substantially lower level than AR0382?

• Line 259: Grammatically change “All of mice” to “All of the mice”.

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Reviewer #1: No

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Potency of gastrointestinal colonization and virulence of Candida auris in a murine endogenous candidiasis

PONE-D-20-21345R1

Dear Dr. Miyazaki,

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

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Kind regards,

Shankar Thangamani, DVM, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE