About the Authors

Muhammad Nouman Tahir

Affiliation Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Imran Amin

Affiliation Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Rob W. Briddon

Affiliation Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Shahid Mansoor

shahidmansoor7@gmail.com

Affiliation Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SM RWB. Performed the experiments: MNT IA. Analyzed the data: SM RWB MNT IA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SM RWB. Wrote the paper: MNT IA RWB SM. Conducted all experiments: MNT IA. Approved the manuscript: SM RWB MNT IA.