About the Authors

Elizabeth A. Mueller

Affiliation Department of Microbiology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States of America

Patrick M. Schlievert

patrick-schlievert@uiowa.edu

Affiliation Department of Microbiology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States of America

Competing Interests

Patrick M. Schlievert has read the journal's policy and has the following competing interests: He is a co-founder of a small biotechnology company, Hennepin Life Sciences, to develop small molecule inhibitors of microbial growth. Elizabeth A. Mueller has no competing interests. Patrick M. Schlievert is a PLOS ONE Board member. Being a Board member does not alter his adherence to PLOS ONE Editorial policies. Having competing interests does not in any way restrict the authors sharing of data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: EAM PMS. Performed the experiments: EAM PMS. Analyzed the data: EAM PMS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: EAM PMS. Wrote the paper: EAM PMS.