About the Authors

Xiaoli Xue

Affiliation Research Group Microbial Communication, Division of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Helena Sztajer

Affiliation Research Group Microbial Communication, Division of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Nora Buddruhs

Affiliation Research Group Roseobacter Molecular Systematics, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Jörn Petersen

Affiliation Research Group Roseobacter Molecular Systematics, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Manfred Rohde

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Susanne R. Talay

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Irene Wagner-Döbler

iwd@gbf.de

Affiliation Research Group Microbial Communication, Division of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Competing Interests

HSZ, MR, ST and IWD are employees of the Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research (HZI) GmbH. NB and JP are employees of the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ) GmbH. Both institutions are govenment funded research organizations. There are no 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

Conceived and designed the experiments: XX HS NB JP MR SRT IW-D. Performed the experiments: XX HS NB MR SRT. Analyzed the data: XX HS JP MR SRT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: XX HS NB MR SRT. Wrote the paper: XX HS JP MR SRT IW-D. Approved of the manuscript to be published: XX HS NB JP MR SRT IW-D.