Seed Germination and Storage of the Endangered Species Manglietia crassipes Y. W. Law (Magnoliaceae)
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In the title of the paper you would certainly have to change the name of the species to a lowercase letterAuthor Response
Thank you. I changed the name of species in the title as your advice.
Reviewer 2 Report
Please formulate the goal briefly, clearly and concisely.
Table 1 should probably be presented in Section 2.1.
The authors discuss the data in the Section 3.1 that are not shown in the table (diameter, length). The 2 table is discussed in only one sentence.
In 5 page do not write (see figure 1A), while (Figure 1A) is written below.
In 5 page Autors writes "as shown in tables 3 and 4" when Table 4 is not in the article. In the Table 3 discusses the results of Section 3.4.
In the discussion I missed the discussion of other research about seed storage or the impact of GA3, 6-BA, IAA on seed germination and ect.
Author Response
- Please formulate the goal briefly, clearly and concisely.
R: Thank you. Goal of this work is to make clear of the basic seed characters including germination, dormancy and storage conditions of the “critically endangered” species Manglietia crassipes, which can be useful for future ornamental breeding and further protection or conservation, as shown in the abstract.
- Table 1 should probably be presented in Section 2.1.
R: Thank you. We have presented Table 1 in Section 2.1 before.
- The authors discuss the data in the Section 3.1 that are not shown in the table (diameter, length). The 2 table is discussed in only one sentence.
R: yes, we did not put the diameter length of fruits into Table 2 because the length were measured from much more numbers of fruits not only the 20 fruits presented in Table 2. Thank you.
- In 5 page do not write (see figure 1A), while (Figure 1A) is written below.
R: Thank you. We will change it as your demand.
- In 5 page Autors writes "as shown in tables 3 and 4" when Table 4 is not in the article. In the Table 3 discusses the results of Section 3.4.
R: Thank you very much. It is my fault and I will change the Table 4 into “Appendix 1”.
- In the discussion I missed the discussion of other research about seed storage or the impact of GA3, 6-BA, IAA on seed germination and ect.
R: Thank you. In our discussion, we mainly discuss the major reasons for its endangered status. According to our results, we found the natural seeds have much lower seed germination rates than the stored seeds, although germination rates of the stored seeds have been very low. Besides, we found high abortion rate of the fruit. These two weakness can increase the difficulty of surviving in wild for Manglietia crassipes. Lower seed germination rates were caused by seed dormancy but GA3 can break its dormancy and the most proper concentration is 2500 mg/L as shown in discussion. 4 °C moisturizing sand stratification is advised as the most efficient storage conditions.
Reviewer 3 Report
This article reports about the germination and preservation conditions for the seed of Manglietia crassipes, which is an endemic tree of China and listed as critically endangered in the China Species Red List. However, the authors mention this species is also used for ornamental horticulture. The seed physiology for the reproduction of this species is unknown. The authors observed and tested the seed germination in this paper.
The experimental design is very simple and the data are understandable. However, I request several modifications for easier comprehension by readers.
- Table 3 is very difficult to understand. I suggest Table 3 will be transformed to a graph chart.
- In the introduction section, a possibility of propagation methods other than seed propagation is preferred to be explained. For woody plant species, grafting, cutting or layering may be possible methods of the propagation for horticulture use. Can vegetative propagation methods are applied for this plant species? This journal title is “Horticulturae”, so the horticultural techniques of plant propagation for this species should also be mentioned.
- I wonder why “plant growth regulator” is abbreviated to “RGA”. Is it Plant Growth Agent?
- In the abstract (L.25), what is “IGT”?
- In the materials and methods section (L.100, L117), germination energy is abbreviated to “GP”. What is the meaning of the “GP”.
- In the result section (L.134-136), I would like to see a photo of seeds to understand the appearance. Some photo data will improve the understanding of the experiment results. I would like to see the appearance of seed germination also.
- The seeds soaking treatment with GA3, especially in higher concentrations (>2000 mg/L), improved the seed germination rate. Were there any side effects in the plant growth, for example weak elongation of hypocotyl or stem, etc., by GA3 treatment. If there are some bad effects on the normal plant growth, the high concentration treatment can’t be recommended for the use.
- What is “Black control” in Table 3 ?
- I would like to know how soil and light conditions affect the seed germination. I wonder why authors did not test these conditions.
- Is Manglietia crassipes self-pollinated (self-fertilized) plant or cross-pollinated plants? This information is fundamental and very important to discuss the abortive seeds.
Author Response
1. Table 3 is very difficult to understand. I suggest Table 3 will be transformed to a graph chart.
R: Thanks a lot. We think it is much better to analyze the variance of seed vigor under different storage conditions through multiple comparisons instead of a graph chart.
2. In the introduction section, a possibility of propagation methods other than seed propagation is preferred to be explained. For woody plant species, grafting, cutting or layering may be possible methods of the propagation for horticulture use. Can vegetative propagation methods are applied for this plant species? This journal title is “Horticulturae”, so the horticultural techniques of plant propagation for this species should also be mentioned.
R: Thank you. As we presented in the introduction, seed propagation is the major propagation way for the family Magnoliaceae according to lots of reference (line 47-50). We agree with your opinion that vegetative propagation including grafting, cutting or layering may be possible methods of the propagation for horticulture use. Sexual propagation especially seed propagation also belong to the important part of Horticulture. We have not found any vegetative propagation report of Manglietia crassipes yet, maybe we can further study its vegetative propagation methods in the next article in future.
3. I wonder why “plant growth regulator” is abbreviated to “RGA”. Is it Plant Growth Agent?
R: Ok. We will delete the abbreviated word “PGA” in the manuscript.
4. In the abstract (L.25), what is “IGT”?
R: Thank you very much. “IGT” means the initial germination time of seed, we will add them in the abstract.
5. In the materials and methods section (L.100, L117), germination energy is abbreviated to “GP”. What is the meaning of the “GP”.
R: Thank you. I don`t know how to explain the meaning of the “GP” because its formula has been given in line 115-117.
6. In the result section (L.134-136), I would like to see a photo of seeds to understand the appearance. Some photo data will improve the understanding of the experiment results. I would like to see the appearance of seed germination also.
R: Thanks a lot. We add a photo of seed in line 133, 138-139. We did not photograph the appearance of seed germination, because it is very easy to be moldy and once they germinated, we quickly moved them into soil.
7. The seeds soaking treatment with GA3, especially in higher concentrations (>2000 mg/L), improved the seed germination rate. Were there any side effects in the plant growth, for example weak elongation of hypocotyl or stem, etc., by GA3 treatment. If there are some bad effects on the normal plant growth, the high concentration treatment can’t be recommended for the use.
R: Thanks. We don’t know whether seeds soaking treatment with GA3 can affect the normal plant growth, but it had no impact on seed germination energy. Seedlings with GA3 treatment from its related species Manglietia pachyphylla can normally grow in its natural habitat.
8. What is “Black control” in Table 3 ?
R: Thanks. “Black control” means seeds soaked in pure water, compared with treatment with plant growth regulator. We have explained it in line 159 and 187.
9. I would like to know how soil and light conditions affect the seed germination. I wonder why authors did not test these conditions.
R: Thank you. We designed the storage conditions based on reference and previous research from others.
10. Is Manglietia crassipes self-pollinated (self-fertilized) plant or cross-pollinated plants? This information is fundamental and very important to discuss the abortive seeds.
R: Thank you. There are three reproductive ways in Magnoliaceae: self-pollination, cross-pollination and apomixis. Different species have different reproductive ways. In its related species Manglietia pachyphylla, self-pollination from the same flower present self-incompatibility, it tends to belong to xenogamy. Reproductive way of Manglietia crassipes is not clear now. Follow your advice, we add these information in section 4.2 (line 252-256).
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Thank you for replying my questions.
I checked the revised manuscript and have understood authors’ replying comments.
Sorry, my question (#5) was not proper. I was asking the meaning of “GP”. GP is from “germination energy”. I think “germination energy” can be abbreviated to GE, however, authors used GP. What is the meaning of “P”? Is it usual abbreviation?
In Table 3, Line 4 °C cold stratification, 100d; the SSR left column, the character “E” is probably “e” (small e)
Author Response
Sorry, my question (#5) was not proper. I was asking the meaning of “GP”. GP is from “germination energy”. I think “germination energy” can be abbreviated to GE, however, authors used GP. What is the meaning of “P”? Is it usual abbreviation?
R: Thank you very much. “Germination energy” here means “germination power”, so we abbreviated it to GP. In order to avoid misunderstanding again, we have changed all “germination energy” to “germination power” in the manuscript.
In Table 3, Line 4 °C cold stratification, 100d; the SSR left column, the character “E” is probably “e” (small e)
R: Thank you for your kind and careful review. We have corrected it in the Table 3 following your advice.
