About the Authors

Robert W. Li

robert.li@ars.usda.gov

Affiliation Animal and Natural Resources Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America

Sitao Wu

Affiliation Animal and Natural Resources Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America

Weizhong Li

Affiliation Center for Research in Biological Systems, University of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America

Ying Huang

Affiliation Center for Research in Biological Systems, University of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America

Louis C. Gasbarre

Affiliation Animal and Natural Resources Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: RWL. Performed the experiments: RWL. Analyzed the data: SW WL YH. Wrote the paper: RWL. Assisted in animal experiment: LCG.