Application of 6-Pentyl-α-Pyrone in the Nutrient Solution Used in Tomato Soilless Cultivation to Inhibit Fusarium oxysporum HF-26 Growth and Development

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study "Application of 6-pentyl-α-pyrone in the Nutrient Solution used 3 in Tomato Soilless Cultivation to inhibit Fusarium oxysporum 4 HF-26 Growth and Development"  allows us to know the antifungal capacity of 6-pentyl-α-pyrone (6-PP) that could be used in different forms of cultivation, especially where soils are not used, being an important alternative to stop using some pesticides. However, improvements must be made to the work before it can be published.

(1) In the introduction, the characteristics of 6-PP and its importance as an antimicrobial should be mentioned.

(2) Figures 1A and 2A should be improved, the quality is very low.

(3) In the conclusion, line 415, it is stated that "6-PP is an antibacteriocidal", this phrase should be deleted to avoid confusion because its antifungal activity is detailed in the study.

Author Response

Dear reviewer

Thank you very much for your hard work and valuable comments. We have revised the manuscript carefully. The revised manuscript was attached and the color of the revised part is blue.

Yours sincerely,

Jianxiu Hao

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

In the opinion of the reviewer, some parts of the work should be improved and/or clarified.

 What was the source of the 6-pentyl-α-pyrone used in the research, the origin of the compound should be clarified

150 – Authors stated that “Pigment synthesis and mycelial growth were assessed”

The manuscript does not contain information on the assessment of pigment synthesis

 216 Authors indicated that “H2O2 accumulation and catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were measured using the respective test kits (Sino Best Biological Technology Co., Ltd. Shanghai, China).”

Since the website of Sino Best Biological Technology does not contain information about these tests, they should be briefly described or the source of information about these kits should be clearly indicated.

 250 “Additionally, 25 mg/L 6-PP affected hyphae and spore formation, as indicated by the red circle in Figure1A.”

No part of the manuscript documented that 6-PP delays/affects spore formation. Several times in the text, the authors indicate that 6-PP reduces sporulation of F. oxysporum, but this fact is not properly documented

 260 The sentence “Fusaric acid is a non-specific toxin secreted by Fusarium and causes atrophy” seems to be incomplete,  atrophy of what?

 312 “The fungicidal nutrient solution containing 25 mg/L 6-PP had 70.71% efficacy (Table 2), which is consistent with that of a reported bactericidal nutrient solution containing carbendazim [4].”

Completely wrong interpretation of the cited article, carbendazim is not a bactericide, it was not applied as “bactericidal nutrient solution”

360 In the present study, we investigated the type and quantity of VOCs in T. asperellum PT-15 using GC-MS. We identified 6-PP as the target substance to control FW in soilless tomato cultivation”

The manuscript do not provide information on quantity of VOCs in T. asperellum PT-15. Table 1 shows only percentage of area.

367 In the present study, 6-PP was identified in the VOCs from F. oxysporum PT-15 (Table 1 and Figure S1).

6-PP was not identified in the VOCs from F. oxysporum

400 “Moreover, PRs defence genes were tested, and the PR1, NPR1, PR2, and PR5 relative expression levels were markedly upregulated at 24 hpi (Figures 5 and 6), suggesting that 6-PP inhibits F. oxysporum growth and the formation of hyphae and spores, and induce the tomato resistance to FW (Figure 7). Therefore, 6-PP is potential antibacterial agent that can be used as a fungicide in soilless culture nutrient solution”

The sentence should be expressed more simply. The authors found that 6-PP inhibited F.oxysporum and concluded that "Therefore, 6-PP is a potential antibacterial agent ... It is misleading

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

we are very grateful for your valuable comments on our manuscript. We have revised the manuscript according to your suggestions and uploaded the manuscript. The revised part was in red.

Yours sincerely,

Jianxiu Hao 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx