About the Authors

Pradip K. Tarafdar

Current address: Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India

Affiliation School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Lakshmi Vasudev Vedantam

Current address: Shanta Biotechnics Ltd, Hyderabad, India

Affiliation Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Rajeshwer S. Sankhala

Current address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, United States of America

Affiliation School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Pallinti Purushotham

Affiliation Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Appa Rao Podile

Affiliation Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Musti J. Swamy

mjswamy1@gmail.com

Affiliation School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Competing Interests

Although Dr. L. V. Vedantam is currently employed by a commercial company (Shanta Bitechnics Ltd.), the authors would like to clarify that his new association with the above company started after the work reported in the manuscript was completed. Hence this does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: PKT ARP MJS. Performed the experiments: PKT LVV RSS PP. Analyzed the data: PKT RSS ARP MJS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: ARP MJS. Wrote the paper: PKT ARP MJS.