Grass–Endophyte Interactions and Their Associated Alkaloids as a Potential Management Strategy for Plant Parasitic Nematodes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments:

The authors tried to reflect the opinions of reviewers. However, there are additional areas that need to be modified. In general, literature reviews should avoid gathering of papers and must aggregate, organize, and compare the studies on a given topic. The authors may not have fulfilled these matters in the manuscript.

Overall, this manuscript is too long. I suggest authors reduce by 20 or 30%.

References need to revise, add most recent references, and delete old references

Different forms of this word have been used in the text. 'non-colonised' with hyphen [9 times] 'noncolonised' no space [2 times], revise it.

Different forms of this word have been used in the text. 'pre-plant' with hyphen [1 time] 'preplant' no space [2 times]. revise it.

Different forms of this word have been used in the text. 'nonfumigated' no space [1 time] 'non-fumigated' with hyphen [1 time]. revise it.

Table 2 need to revise by write italic name of endophytes name.

In table1, the notes column is empty in most of the table, add some inputs in it or remove.

The conclusion should be revised for conciseness and clarity.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor English editing is needed

Author Response

Plese see the attachement 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript discusses the mechanisms of grass and endophyte interactions and their defense role against different nematode species via the production of bioactive alkaloids including lolines, peramines, and indole terpenes, among others. The interaction between plant host and endophyte also confers abiotic tolerance to the plants.

Natural bio-based resources have been increasingly utilized for the management of pests affecting crop productivity and agriculture. The use of endophytes as biocontrol agents to suppress different nematode species is a potential approach to minimize adverse environmental impact and effectively address plant parasitic nematodes.

The manuscript explores the recent trends and discusses the multiple aspects of biocontrol mechanisms, bioactive metabolite synthesis, and host-endophyte dynamics at various stages.

The manuscript is well organized and comprehensively written.

The theme of the article is of potential interest, are there any literature reports in which plant endophytes are used to control nematodes (except grasses)? Discuss, if any.

While the manuscript specifically focuses on grass-endophyte interactions, discussing examples with reference to other plant-colonizing endophytes that suppress nematodes would add value to the article.

Are there any studies that grass-associated endophytes can be utilized to confer biotic/abiotic stress tolerance in other plants of economic value?

 

 

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have addressed all the comments.