About the Authors

Tamás Somfai

somfai@affrc.go.jp

Affiliation Animal Breeding and Reproduction Research Division, NARO Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Koji Yoshioka

Affiliation Pathology and Pathophysiology Research Division, National Institute of Animal Health, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Fuminori Tanihara

Affiliations Animal Development and Differentiation Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan

Hiroyuki Kaneko

Affiliation Animal Development and Differentiation Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Junko Noguchi

Affiliation Animal Development and Differentiation Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Naomi Kashiwazaki

Affiliation Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Azabu University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

Takashi Nagai

Affiliation Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, Taipei, Taiwan

Kazuhiro Kikuchi

Affiliations Animal Development and Differentiation Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: TS KY KK. Performed the experiments: TS KY FT HK JN NK. Analyzed the data: TS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TS KY FT. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: TS KY TN KK.