<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Publishing DTD v1.2 20190208//EN" "http://jats.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/1.2/JATS-journalpublishing1.dtd"><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" article-type="brief-report" dtd-version="1.2" xml:lang="en">
    <front>
        <journal-meta>
            <journal-id journal-id-type="pmc">F1000Research</journal-id>
            <journal-title-group>
                <journal-title>F1000Research</journal-title>
            </journal-title-group>
            <issn pub-type="epub">2046-1402</issn>
            <publisher>
                <publisher-name>F1000 Research Limited</publisher-name>
                <publisher-loc>London, UK</publisher-loc>
            </publisher>
        </journal-meta>
        <article-meta>
            <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.12688/f1000research.136445.1</article-id>
            <article-categories>
                <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
                    <subject>Brief Report</subject>
                </subj-group>
                <subj-group>
                    <subject>Articles</subject>
                </subj-group>
            </article-categories>
            <title-group>
                <article-title>Studies on variability in mode of infection by the isolates of leaf pathogens isolated from diseased leaves of 
                    <italic>Musa paradisiaca</italic> from Uttar Dinajpur District</article-title>
                <fn-group content-type="pub-status">
                    <fn>
                        <p>[version 1; peer review: 1 not approved]</p>
                    </fn>
                </fn-group>
            </title-group>
            <contrib-group>
                <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
                    <name>
                        <surname>Das</surname>
                        <given-names>Debarati</given-names>
                    </name>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Methodology</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Writing &#x2013; Review &amp; Editing</role>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
                </contrib>
                <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
                    <name>
                        <surname>Chowhan</surname>
                        <given-names>Papan</given-names>
                    </name>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Methodology</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Writing &#x2013; Review &amp; Editing</role>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
                </contrib>
                <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
                    <name>
                        <surname>Mandal</surname>
                        <given-names>Parimal</given-names>
                    </name>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Methodology</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Writing &#x2013; Review &amp; Editing</role>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
                </contrib>
                <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
                    <name>
                        <surname>Chakraborty</surname>
                        <given-names>Arka Pratim</given-names>
                    </name>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Conceptualization</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Methodology</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Writing &#x2013; Original Draft Preparation</role>
                    <role content-type="http://credit.niso.org/">Writing &#x2013; Review &amp; Editing</role>
                    <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4303-9920</uri>
                    <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c1">a</xref>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
                </contrib>
                <aff id="a1">
                    <label>1</label>Botany, Raiganj University, Raiganj, West Bengal, 733134, India</aff>
            </contrib-group>
            <author-notes>
                <corresp id="c1">
                    <label>a</label>
                    <email xlink:href="mailto:arka.botanyrgu@gmail.com">arka.botanyrgu@gmail.com</email>
                </corresp>
                <fn fn-type="conflict">
                    <p>No competing interests were disclosed.</p>
                </fn>
            </author-notes>
            <pub-date pub-type="epub">
                <day>23</day>
                <month>4</month>
                <year>2024</year>
            </pub-date>
            <pub-date pub-type="collection">
                <year>2024</year>
            </pub-date>
            <volume>13</volume>
            <elocation-id>370</elocation-id>
            <history>
                <date date-type="accepted">
                    <day>21</day>
                    <month>6</month>
                    <year>2023</year>
                </date>
            </history>
            <permissions>
                <copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x00a9; 2024 Das D et al.</copyright-statement>
                <copyright-year>2024</copyright-year>
                <license xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
                    <license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</license-p>
                </license>
            </permissions>
            <self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://f1000research.com/articles/13-370/pdf"/>
            <abstract>
                <p>Banana is (
                    <italic toggle="yes">Musa</italic> sp) one of the most exoteric and materialistic fruit crop of many tropical and subtropical areas in India. Banana leaf diseases, caused by several fungal pathogens are one of the major diseases. Among the fungi causing banana leaf diseases, 
                    <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic>sp/
                    <italic toggle="yes">C. lunata</italic> is one of the main causal organisms causing leaf spot disease in banana plant. Two fungal isolates- MUSLF-2, MUSLF-3 and one fungal isolate- MUSLF-1 were isolated from the infected leaf from Ramganj and Gotgaon locations. &#x00a0;Based on light microscopic and scanning electron microscopic studies, MUSLF-2 and MUSLF-3 were identified as 
                    <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. After Koch&#x2019;s postulate, three fungal isolates- MUSLF-2, MUSLF-3 [
                    <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp] and MUSLF-1 were applied in banana field along with foliar spray of spore suspensions. The symptoms were similar to those observed in the 
                    <italic toggle="yes">in vitro</italic> detached leaf inoculation technique.</p>
                <p>The present research work depicts about the severity of leaf spot diseases of 
                    <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> and the nature of mode of infections exhibited by the fungal pathogens.</p>
            </abstract>
            <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author">
                <kwd>Curvularia sp.</kwd>
                <kwd>Leaf spot diseases</kwd>
                <kwd>Musa paradisiaca</kwd>
                <kwd>Koch&#x2019;s postulate</kwd>
                <kwd>Scanning electron microscopy</kwd>
                <kwd>Transmission electron microscopy</kwd>
            </kwd-group>
            <funding-group>
                <funding-statement>The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.</funding-statement>
            </funding-group>
        </article-meta>
    </front>
    <body>
        <sec id="sec1" sec-type="intro">
            <title>Introduction</title>
            <p>Between December 2022 and January 2023, leaf spot disease was observed on leaves of field-grown banana plants in the Uttar Dinajpur District, West Bengal. Diseased leaf samples were collected from Ramganj (Lat - 25.64855&#x00b0; long - 88.430628&#x00b0;), Gotgaon (Lat - 25.646622&#x00b0; long - 20 88.440895&#x00b0;) and Kaluhar ((Lat - 25.637923&#x00b0; long - 88.444335&#x00b0;) places. Symptoms first appeared as yellowish-brown spots in the middle and margin of leaves. Symptoms range from a few lesions scattered across leaves to lesions densely covering large sections of leave (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f1">Figure 1</xref>).</p>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f1" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 1. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Collection of diseased leaf samples of banana.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr1" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure1.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <p>Two fungal isolates - MUSLF-2, MUSLF-3 and one fungal isolate - MUSLF-1 were isolated from the infected leaf from Ramganj and Gotgaon locations onto potato dextrose agar amended with Monocef. Based on light microscopic and scanning electron microscopic studies, MUSLF-2 and MUSLF-3 were identified as 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f2">Figures 2</xref> &amp; 
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f3">3</xref>). Koch&#x2019;s postulate was successfully established for 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. causing leaf spot disease in banana. Disease symptoms were developed within seven days on inoculated detached leaves and in inoculated leaf surfaces, conidial germination was observed. 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. was reisolated from the infected spots. Leaf diseases by 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. or 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia lunata</italic> or other species of 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> were reported by previous researchers (
                <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">Addrah 
                    <italic toggle="yes">et al</italic>., 2021</xref>; 
                <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref5">Manzar 
                    <italic toggle="yes">et al</italic>., 2021</xref>) in support of our research findings.</p>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f2" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 2. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Transfer of diseased leaf samples to media and isolation of leaf pathogens from diseased banana leaves along with variability in their morphologies.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr2" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure2.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f3" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 3. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>SEM view of MUSLF-2 and MUSLF-3 isolates; Test of pathogenicity and establishing Koch&#x2019;s Postulates by MUSLF-2 and MUSLF-3 isolates - 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. (Spore suspension showing spore count).</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr3" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure3.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <p>Mycelial invasion of the pathogen in infected leaf was confirmed through the section of leaves under light microscope with cotton blue staining (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f4">Figures 4</xref> &amp; 
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f5">5</xref>). The surface morphology of healthy and 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. inoculated leaves were studied by scanning electron microscopy (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f6">Figures 6</xref> &amp; 
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f7">7</xref>). Changes in internal structures of healthy and 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. inoculated leaves were observed through transmission electron microscopy (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f8">Figure 8</xref>). Role of 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> in causing leaf spots in other crop plants was studied by researchers (
                <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref4">Khoo 
                    <italic toggle="yes">et al</italic>., 2022</xref>; 
                <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2">Bandara 
                    <italic toggle="yes">et al</italic>., 2022</xref>).</p>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f4" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 4. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Leaf samples after artificial inoculation with spore suspension of MUSLF-2 and MUSLF-3 isolates - 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. - 1&#x00d7;10
                        <sup>3</sup> conidia/ml following detached leaf technique; Section of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. infected leaf of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> under light microscope with cotton blue stain.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr4" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure4.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f5" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 5. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Section of MUSLF-1 infected leaf of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> under light microscope with cotton blue stain; Conidial germination observation under light microscope in 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. infected leaf of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> after artificial inoculation in detached leaf technique.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr5" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure5.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f6" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 6. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Conidial germination observation under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. infected leaf of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> after artificial inoculation in detached leaf technique.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr6" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure6.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f7" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 7. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Hyphal observation under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in MUS LF-1infected leaf of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiaca</italic> after artificial inoculation in detached leaf technique.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr7" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure7.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f8" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 8. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Observation of internal structure of healthy and infected leaf of banana under Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM).</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr8" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure8.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <p>After Koch&#x2019;s postulate, three fungal isolates- MUSLF-2, MUSLF-3 [
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp.] and MUSLF-1 grown in sand maize meal media were applied in banana field along with foliar spray of spore suspensions (1&#x00d7;10
                <sup>3</sup> conidia/ml). Although the method of inoculation was somewhat artificial, the symptoms were similar to those observed in the 
                <italic toggle="yes">in vitro</italic> detached leaf inoculation condition (
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f9">Figures 9</xref> &amp; 
                <xref ref-type="fig" rid="f10">10</xref>). Similar finding on first report of 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia lunata</italic> causing leaf spots in banana plant from Uttar Dinajpur District is in support of our present research (
                <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3">Chowhan and Chakraborty, 2022</xref>).</p>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f9" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 9. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Preparation of sand maize meal media; Growth of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. (MUSLF-2, 3) and MUSLF-1 isolate in sand maize meal media.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr9" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure9.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <fig fig-type="figure" id="f10" orientation="portrait" position="float">
                <label>Figure 10. </label>
                <caption>
                    <title>Application of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. (MUSLF-2, 3) and MUSLF-1 grown sand maize meal media in rhizpspheric zone of banana and foliar spray of spore suspensions in leaves of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Musa paradisiacal</italic>; Establishment of leaf spot in field and confirmation of 
                        <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp.</title>
                </caption>
                <graphic id="gr10" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="https://f1000research-files.f1000.com/manuscripts/149588/98032aff-09d4-4359-9191-aca9c9a48174_figure10.gif"/>
            </fig>
            <p>In a nutshell, the research finding focuses on the nature of symptoms of leaf spot diseases of banana and role of 
                <italic toggle="yes">Curvularia</italic> sp. in establishment of leaf spot through Koch&#x2019;s postulate in detached leaf technique as well as in field condition.</p>
        </sec>
    </body>
    <back>
        <sec id="sec4" sec-type="data-availability">
            <title>Data availability</title>
            <p>No data is associated with the research.</p>
        </sec>
        <ack>
            <title>Acknowledgements</title>
            <p>Authors take this opportunity to express earnest gratefulness to the Director of USIC - Scanning Electron Microscopy Unit, University of North Bengal for taking the scanning electron microscopic photographs and the Director of USIC-AIIMS, New Delhi for taking the transmission electron microscopic photographs.</p>
        </ack>
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    <sub-article article-type="reviewer-report" id="report275397">
        <front-stub>
            <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5256/f1000research.149588.r275397</article-id>
            <title-group>
                <article-title>Reviewer response for version 1</article-title>
            </title-group>
            <contrib-group>
                <contrib contrib-type="author">
                    <name>
                        <surname>Khoo</surname>
                        <given-names>Ying Wei</given-names>
                    </name>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="r275397a1">1</xref>
                    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="r275397a2">2</xref>
                    <role>Referee</role>
                </contrib>
                <aff id="r275397a1">
                    <label>1</label>Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China</aff>
                <aff id="r275397a2">
                    <label>2</label>Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia</aff>
            </contrib-group>
            <author-notes>
                <fn fn-type="conflict">
                    <p>
                        <bold>Competing interests: </bold>No competing interests were disclosed.</p>
                </fn>
            </author-notes>
            <pub-date pub-type="epub">
                <day>28</day>
                <month>5</month>
                <year>2024</year>
            </pub-date>
            <permissions>
                <copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x00a9; 2024 Khoo YW</copyright-statement>
                <copyright-year>2024</copyright-year>
                <license xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
                    <license-p>This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</license-p>
                </license>
            </permissions>
            <related-article ext-link-type="doi" id="relatedArticleReport275397" related-article-type="peer-reviewed-article" xlink:href="10.12688/f1000research.136445.1"/>
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                <custom-meta>
                    <meta-name>recommendation</meta-name>
                    <meta-value>reject</meta-value>
                </custom-meta>
            </custom-meta-group>
        </front-stub>
        <body>
            <p>1. replace "crop" with "crops"</p>
            <p> 2. replace "plant" with "plants"</p>
            <p> 3. Which one do you want to refer to, 
                <italic>Curvularia</italic> sp or 
                <italic>C. lunata</italic>?</p>
            <p> 4. Please restructure this sentence: &#x201c;Two fungal isolates- MUSLF-2, MUSLF-3 and one fungal isolate- MUSLF-1 were isolated from the infected leaf from Ramganj and Gotgaon locations.&#x201d;</p>
            <p> 5. Without molecular results, how can you confirm the isolates are either 
                <italic>Curvularia</italic> sp. or 
                <italic>Curcularia lunata</italic> based on macroscopic and microscopic characterization?</p>
            <p> 6. Remove &#x201c;about&#x201d; before &#x201c;the severity&#x201d;</p>
            <p> 7. Add &#x201c;the&#x201d; before &#x201c;mode&#x201d;</p>
            <p> 8. A scale bar should be added to the figure</p>
            <p> In cases where a figure has multiple parts or panels, it is better to label each with a letter: A, B, C, etc. in lowercase or upper-head letters depending on the journal&#x2019;s guidelines.</p>
            <p> 9. Figures no.5, 7, and 8 Figure 2 are not clear, same goes for some figures in Figures 3, 4, 9, and 10.</p>
            <p> 10. Your identification of the fungi lacks strong evidence to support its accuracy.</p>
            <p>Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?</p>
            <p>Partly</p>
            <p>If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?</p>
            <p>Not applicable</p>
            <p>Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?</p>
            <p>Partly</p>
            <p>Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?</p>
            <p>No</p>
            <p>Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?</p>
            <p>No</p>
            <p>Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?</p>
            <p>No</p>
            <p>Reviewer Expertise:</p>
            <p>Plant Pathology</p>
            <p>I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to state that I do not consider it to be of an acceptable scientific standard, for reasons outlined above.</p>
        </body>
    </sub-article>
</article>
