Species of the Genera Neopestalotiopsis and Alternaria as Dominant Pathogen Species Attacking Mastic Trees (Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study reporting  Neopestalotiopsis and Alternaria as dominant pathogen species attacking mastic trees. However, as the taxonomy of the genera Alternaria and Neopestalotiopsis are still under discussion, and due to the close relationship between taxa in the genera, the authors should be more cautious about their identification. Many kinds of literature provide species in this genera are morphologically and phylogenetically indistinguishable. Therefore, it is doubtful about your identification at the species level. It is important to carry out a phylogenetic analysis, including the type species of the related species to your isolates. A few other minor comments were attached to the revised MS.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Reviewer 1:

First, we would like to thank you for your contribution in the improvement of our manuscript.

The study reporting Neopestalotiopsis and Alternaria as dominant pathogen species attacking mastic trees. However, as the taxonomy of the genera Alternaria and Neopestalotiopsis are still under discussion, and due to the close relationship between taxa in the genera, the authors should be more cautious about their identification. Many kinds of literature provide species in this genera are morphologically and phylogenetically indistinguishable. Therefore, it is doubtful about your identification at the species level. It is important to carry out a phylogenetic analysis, including the type species of the related species to your isolates. A few other minor comments were attached to the revised MS.

Identification was performed using multiple genes to achieve more reliable results, and all obtained sequences were compared with sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database using Blastn software. To strengthen our results, we provide two extra supplementary figures (S1 and S2) demonstrating two phylogenetic trees in order to distinguish (to a primary level) the species of these two demanding genera as regards identification. 

Minor comments (in order of appearance):

1. It is better to reduce the content of the first paragraph

The paragraph was reduced

2. Arrange a to z order

The table was rearranged so that the isolate number is first and in the correct order

3. Please provide the photos of the two species of Alternaria

The photos were added in figure 7

4. This genus described by Maharachchikumbra et al. in 2014

The reference is added because we are referring to the work of Maharachchikumbra et al. in 2012 regarding the choice of the best genes for the identification of Pestalotiopsis isolates.

Reviewer 2 Report

In this study, several mastic trees were analyzed to determine the cause of dominant diseases as manifested by morphological changes in the plants. Pathogens were isolated, then identified through morphological and sequence analyses. Overall, the paper could provide useful information the researchers of the same field. However, it seems that there is something wrong with the figures in this manuscript. Each error bar in all figures presented here has line on the top creating a cross sign. 

Author Response

Reviewer 2:

First, we would like to thank you for your contribution in the improvement of our manuscript.

In this study, several mastic trees were analyzed to determine the cause of dominant diseases as manifested by morphological changes in the plants. Pathogens were isolated, then identified through morphological and sequence analyses. Overall, the paper could provide useful information the researchers of the same field. However, it seems that there is something wrong with the figures in this manuscript. Each error bar in all figures presented here has line on the top creating a cross sign. 

The figures were corrected accordingly.

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors identified the dominant fungal pathogens related to the defoliation, twig blight, wood tissue necrosis of mastic trees by fungal isolation and sequencing, and verified by affecting the plants and comparing the impact. This work was well-designed and presented, can be published in current form. 

Author Response

Thank you for your positive feedback

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have conducted a substantial review of the MS; however, they did not address my main concern about the identification. For example, the sequence you used as the reference is not from type, they are from unpublished data. See MG729690, the main isolate you used as the reference for Neopestalotiopsis clavispora. This isolate is not even published. Also the values like 0.005, i could not understand what those are

Author Response

Dear reviewer,  Thank you for your comments that are focused on improving our manuscript. The isolate MG729690 that we used has been published in: Zheng X, Liu X, Li X, Quan C, Li P, Gu J, Chang X, Khaskheli MI, Gong G. Pestalotiopsis Species associated with Blueberry Leaf Spots and Stem Cankers in Sichuan Province of China. Plant Dis. 2022 Jun 6. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-07-21-1550-RE.  We specifically chose this article because of the fact that the work described is related to our own and we wanted to address your concern regarding our identification process in the fastest yet more effective way. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Can be published in the present form. 

Author Response

Thank you for your comments and positive feedback