About the Authors

Mustapha Aouida

Current address: Center for Desert Agriculture, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Affiliation Plant Stress Genomics Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Kangchang Kim

Affiliation Division of Applied Life Science (Brain Korea 21 Program), Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Center, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

Abdul Rajjak Shaikh

Affiliation KAUST Catalysis Center, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Jose M. Pardo

Affiliation Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Sevilla, Spain

Jörg Eppinger

Affiliation KAUST Catalysis Center, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dae-Jin Yun

Affiliation Division of Applied Life Science (Brain Korea 21 Program), Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Center, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

Ray A. Bressan

Affiliations Plant Stress Genomics Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America

Meena L. Narasimhan

biowrite.mln@gmail.com

Current address: Bio-Write LLC, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America

Affiliation Plant Stress Genomics Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Competing Interests

The authors declare the affiliation of MLN to Bio-Write, LLC, does not represent a conflict of interest in the presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of this manuscript. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. None of the other authors have potential competing interests. There are no patent applications or products in development or marketed products based on the results in this paper.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MLN RAB MA JE DJY. Performed the experiments: MA KK ARS. Analyzed the data: MA ARS MLN JE JMP. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JE DJY RAB JMP MA. Wrote the paper: MLN MA JE ARS.