About the Authors

Colleen A. Fisher

Affiliation Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America

Eric K. Bhattarai

Affiliation Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America

Jason B. Osterstock

Affiliation Pfizer Animal Genetics, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States of America

Scot E. Dowd

Affiliation Research and Testing Laboratory, SpiroStat Technologies, Medical Biofilm Research Institute, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America

Paul M. Seabury

Affiliation ElanTech, Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland, United States of America

Meenu Vikram

Affiliation Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America

Robert H. Whitlock

Affiliation Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Ynte H. Schukken

Affiliation Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America

Robert D. Schnabel

Affiliation Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America

Jeremy F. Taylor

Affiliation Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America

James E. Womack

Affiliation Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America

Christopher M. Seabury

cseabury@cvm.tamu.edu

Affiliation Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. JBO is an unpaid collaborator and former employee of Texas A&M University, with this study conceptualized, funded, and initiated prior to his departure. PMS is an unpaid collaborator. ElanTech Inc allows PMS to engage in unpaid external scientific collaborations. SED is the Director of Research and Testing Laboratory. SED is a collaborator who provided sequencing library quantitation and pyrosequencing services. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: CMS. Performed the experiments: CAF EKB SED CMS. Analyzed the data: CAF CMS. Wrote the paper: CAF CMS. Performed regression analyses: JBO JFT CMS. Annotated genes: MV. Designed custom software to manage and compile genotype data: PMS. Provided DNA: JBO RHW YHS RDS JFT JEW CMS. Provided animal disease phenotypes: RHW YHS. Provided editorial suggestions and revisions: EKB JBO SED PMS MV RHW YHS RDS JFT JEW.