Talk:WikiJournal Preprints/Brace Roots
This article is an unpublished pre-print undergoing public peer review organised by the WikiJournal Preprints.
You can follow its progress through the peer review process at this tracking page.First submitted:
Article text
QID: Q122688735
Suggested (provisional) preprint citation format:
Thanduanlung Kamei; Irene Ikiriko; Susan Abernathy; Amanda Rasmussen; Erin E Sparks. "Brace Roots". WikiJournal Preprints. Wikidata Q122688735.
License: 
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author and source are credited.
Andrew Leung 
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Hannah M. Schneider
Alan B. Bennett
Jagdeep S. Sidhu
Article information
Authors: Thanduanlung Kamei[a][i] , Irene I. Ikiriko[a] , Susan M. Abernathy[b] , Amanda Rasmussen[b] , Erin E. Sparks[a]
This is the pre-publication public peer review for the article Brace Roots
Plagiarism check edit
Pass. Report from the WMF copyvios tool flagged a few false positives (not regarded as plagiarism) due to common stock phrases, mostly around affiliation and acknowledgements. 5.7% similarity with "violation unlikely". OhanaUnitedTalk page 02:47, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
Peer review #1 edit
Review by Hannah Schneider 
, Leibniz Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
These assessment comments were submitted on , and refer to this previous version of the article
This is a well-written and up-to-date article about the physiology and genetic control of brace roots in plants. It provides a brief, but comprehensive summary of the scientific literature on the topic.
I just have a few comments for the authors to consider to improve clarity of the article:
In the section ‘Brace root architecture and function’ it states ‘Anatomically, the efficiency of water and nutrient transport is determined by the number and size of vascular xylem vessels known as metaxylem. Brace roots have up to 48 metaxylem vessels, which account for up to 75% of the vessels that transport water in the plant.' These sentences are unclear. Xylem vessels alone do not determine the efficiency of water and nutrient transport. Other tissues (e.g. cortical cells, apoplastic barriers) provide a lot of resistance (radially) for water and nutrient transport (which probably is a much greater resistance than axial resistances). Could you please modify this sentence to include a bit more specific language? In addition, I am unsure of what you mean by brace roots have up to 75% of vessels that transport water in the plant. This depends on the developmental stage of the plant and vessels are continuous through different root classes and plant organs. Could you also please modify this sentence for clarity?
In addition, several places in the article, you refer to the brace roots from ‘lowest’ whorl or node. It might be helpful for the reader to define what the ‘lowest’ means i.e. closest node to the root-shoot junction.
Peer review #2 edit
Review by Alan Bennett , University of California Davis
These assessment comments were submitted on , and refer to this previous version of the article
1) The use of the term "brace roots" may be misleading since the term "brace" roots imply that they touch the ground or penetrate the soil. A more inclusive term would be "aerial nodal roots" and would include the two types of aerial roots that the authors show in Figure 1. 2) The authors should cite and review this paper with respect to the role ZmSBT3 on aerial rot development and contribution to N2 fixation. 3) This paper is very well written and concisely covers the topic of aerial root development and function.
Peer review #3 edit
Review by Jagdeep Singh Sidhu , Department of Plant Science, Penn State University
These assessment comments were submitted on , and refer to this previous version of the article
I enjoyed reading this article on brace roots, and I found it to be quite informative and well-written. However, I have a few suggestions that I believe could be useful:
Clarification of Terminology: While the article adequately describes the function of brace roots in anchorage, it might be beneficial to provide a brief explanation of the origin of the term "brace roots" and why it is still used, especially considering instances where they may not serve a bracing function in the traditional sense.
Expansion on Nutrient Uptake: It would be beneficial to expand on the specific nutrients, such as phosphorus (P), that brace roots might be particularly adept at absorbing from the soil. If nothing else this could provide readers with a question on the importance of brace roots in nutrient acquisition.
Anatomical Characteristics and Growth Patterns: In the anatomical section, consider including additional traits that distinguish brace roots from belowground nodal roots, such as the ratio of stele to cortical tissue and variations in diameter across developmental stages. Discussing the potential role of "growth-time-specific allometry" would be good as well.
Environmental Factors and Brace Root Development: It may be worthwhile to explore the hypothetical role of planting depth on brace root development, considering the significant impact of environmental factors, such as soil depth, on root growth.
Figure Labeling: Lastly, consider increasing the visibility of labels "4" and "5" in Figure 2 by enlarging them.