About the Authors

Patrick Müller

Affiliation The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Dagmar G. Alber

Affiliation The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Lynne Turnbull

Affiliation The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Ralf C. Schlothauer

Affiliation Comvita NZ Limited, Te Puke, New Zealand

Dee A. Carter

Affiliation School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cynthia B. Whitchurch

Affiliation The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Elizabeth J. Harry

Elizabeth.Harry@uts.edu.au

Affiliation The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Competing Interests

The authors have the following interests. Comvita NZ, Ltd. provided partial funding for the work described in the manuscript and is the employer of Ralf C. Schlothauer. Manuka honey was provided by Comvita NZ, Ltd. Dee Carter is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: PM DA LT RS DC CW EH. Conceived and designed the experiments: PM DA DC CW EH. Performed the experiments: PM DA. Analyzed the data: PM DA LT RS DC CW EH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LT RS DC CW EH. Wrote the paper: PM EH DC.