About the Authors

Swetlana Berger

swmiller@gwdg.de

Affiliation Animal Breeding and Genetics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany

Martin Schlather

Affiliation School of Business Informatics and Mathematics, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

Gustavo de los Campos

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America

Steffen Weigend

Affiliation Institut of Farm Animal Genetics, Friedrich-Loeffler Institut, Neustadt-Mariensee, Germany

Rudolf Preisinger

Affiliation Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, Cuxhaven, Germany

Malena Erbe

Affiliation Animal Breeding and Genetics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany

Henner Simianer

Affiliation Animal Breeding and Genetics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany

Competing Interests

Prof. Dr. Preisinger is the head of the Genetic Department of LOHMANN Tierzucht GMBH. 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: SB HS MS. Performed the experiments: SB. Analyzed the data: SB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SW RP. Wrote the paper: SB MS GdlC SW ME HS.