About the Authors

Tiejun Zhang

Current address: Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

Affiliation United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research, 24106 N Bunn Road, Prosser, Washington, United States of America

Long-Xi Yu

Longxi.yu@ars.usda.gov

Affiliation United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research, 24106 N Bunn Road, Prosser, Washington, United States of America

Per McCord

Current address: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Sugarcane Field Station, 12990 US HWY 441 N, Canal Point, Florida, United States of America

Affiliation United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research, 24106 N Bunn Road, Prosser, Washington, United States of America

David Miller

Affiliation DuPont Pioneer, W8131 State HWY 60, Arlington, Wisconsin, United States of America

Suresh Bhamidimarri

Affiliation DuPont Pioneer, W8131 State HWY 60, Arlington, Wisconsin, United States of America

David Johnson

Affiliation Alforex Seeds, N4505 CTH M, West Salem, Wisconsin, United States of America

Maria J. Monteros

Affiliation Forage Improvement Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, Oklahoma, United States of America

Julie Ho

Affiliation Forage Genetics International, Inc. 7661 Becker Road, Davis, California, United States of America

Peter Reisen

Affiliation Forage Genetics International, Inc. 7661 Becker Road, Davis, California, United States of America

Deborah A. Samac

Affiliation United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 495 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America

Competing Interests

Although the authors received funding from National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance and collaboration with commercial companies including DuPont Pioneer, Alforex Seeds and Forage Genetics International, this does not alter their adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LXY. Performed the experiments: LXY TZ PM MJM DM SB DJ JH PR. Analyzed the data: LXY TZ PM. Wrote the paper: TZ LXY DAS.