PONE-D-21-10726

Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Saleh

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Himanshu Sharma

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

The manuscript entitled Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm by Amgad A Saleh has been reviewed by the reviewers and also me, as there are many drawbacks as there is no novelty regarding SSRs markers as they have used markers from public domain, samples are also very less. So based on reviewers recommendations, manuscript can be considered for publication after addressing the reviewers comments.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

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

Reviewer #2: Partly

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The article "Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm" describes the identification and characterization of fusarium strains in Saudi Arabia. The authors have analyzed the effect of temperature on mycelial growth moreover also evaluated the pathogenicity of these strains on

different palm tree cultivars. These fungal strains have also been validated using few markers. In my opinion the findings of the manuscript are good but not sufficient for publication in PLos One.

Reviewer #2: The article presented the work on Fusarium species attacking date palm plants of Saudi Arabia. The concept was good, however manuscript suffers with many limitations which need to be work out. Authors used previously developed SSR markers for genetic variability of 59 Fusarium samples, tested effect of temperature on growth of fusarium and tested pathogenicity of fusarium. The objectives were clear and achieved well. Methodology require refinement at many places. there is some repetition discussion part from introduction it needs to be removed and conclusion require explanation and inferences in scientific facts rather than simple generalizations.

Reviewer #3: The MS PONE-D-21-10726 Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm can be accepted for publication. However, at this stage MS need major revision. Discussion part is unnecessarily stretched. Therefore, better it should be concise. In methodology the

Abstract:

Line 30-32; authors can remove these lines from here or rewrite it for their continuity with earlier work.

Material and methods

Page no.4 Line 79-81 Cultures were preserved not maintained in -80. Rewrite these lines.

Page no. 5 Line 102 to 106; correct 0.5 μL 20 to 0.5 μL of 20…. Similarly at other places.

Page no 6 Table 1 remove why 121 SSR primer-pairs of used for genotyping will be sufficient. Author can cite the references in text.

Page no. 10 Authors should describe Pathogenicity o 154 f Fusarium strains on Saudi date palm cultivars under a single heading. No need to give subpara..

Plant material, Fungal inoculum and Seedlings inoculation should be merged

Rewrite discussion and it should be concised

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If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Rajdeep Jaswal

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm

PONE-D-21-10726R1

Dear Dr. Saleh,

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.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Himanshu Sharma

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The manuscript entitled Molecular and physiological characterization of Fusarium strains associated with different diseases in date palm by Dr. Amgad A Saleh has been extensively reviewed by the reviewers and the authors had positively answered all the questions. So this time I am positive for the acceptance of the manuscript, as there are always chances of improvement So authors check again the mistakes and rectify them in the proof reads.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

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 #2: Partly

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: The authors have addressed all the raised issues and manuscript can be accepted now however, authors are advised to go through the final version to remove any type of lingual and technical errors.

Reviewer #3: All the comments raised in earlier revision have been addressed by the authors pointwise. Therefore, MS can be accepted for publication in my opinion.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: Yes: Dr. Vikas Sharma

Reviewer #3: Yes: vivek sharma