About the Authors

Richard Jay Smeyne

richard.smeyne@jefferson.edu

Current address: Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Neuroscience, BLSB 208, 233 South 10th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States of America

Affiliation St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dept. of Developmental Neurobiology, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, United States of America

Charles B. Breckenridge

Affiliation Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, P.O. Box 18300, Greensboro, NC 27419–8300, United States of America

Melissa Beck

Current address: Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH 45314, United States of America

Affiliation WIL Research Laboratories, LLC., Ashland, OH 44805, United States of America

Yun Jiao

Affiliation St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dept. of Developmental Neurobiology, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, United States of America

Mark T. Butt

Affiliation Tox Path Specialists, LLC, 8747 Chestnut Grove Road, Frederick, MD 21701–2607, United States of America

Jeffrey C. Wolf

Affiliation Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc., 45600 Terminal Drive, Sterling, VA 20166, United States of America

Dan Zadory

Affiliation Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc., 45600 Terminal Drive, Sterling, VA 20166, United States of America

Daniel J. Minnema

Affiliation Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, P.O. Box 18300, Greensboro, NC 27419–8300, United States of America

Nicholas C. Sturgess

Affiliation Syngenta Limited, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 6EY, United Kingdom

Kim Z. Travis

Affiliation Syngenta Limited, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 6EY, United Kingdom

Andrew R. Cook

Affiliation Syngenta Limited, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 6EY, United Kingdom

Lewis L. Smith

Affiliation University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom

Philip A. Botham

Affiliation Syngenta Limited, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 6EY, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

We have the following interests. These studies were funded by Syngenta Crop Protection LLC, which is a registrant and basic manufacturer of paraquat. Charles B. Breckenridge and Daniel J. Minnema are employed by Syngenta Crop Protection LLC, and Nicholas C. Sturgess, Kim Z. Travis, Andrew R. Cook and Philip A. Botham by Syngenta Limited. Melissa Beck was employed by WIL Research Laboratories LLC, at the time of study conduct, Mark T. Butt by Tox Path Specialists LLC, and Jeffrey C. Wolf and Dan Zadory by Experimental Pathology Laboratories Inc. WIL Research Laboratories LLC, Tox Path Specialists LLC, Experimental Pathology Laboratories Inc, and Richard J. Smeyne/Yun Jiao of SCRH were contracted to conduct the studies presented here and also served as consultants to Syngenta. Lewis L. Smith served as a consultant to Syngenta Limited. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: RJS CBB YJ MTB JCW DJM NCS KZT ARC LLS PAB. Data curation: CBB DJM. Formal analysis: RJS CBB YJ DJM. Investigation: RJS CBB MTB YJ MB JCW DZ DJM. Methodology: RJS CBB MTB YJ MB JCW DJM LLS. Project administration: RJS CBB DJM NCS KZT ARC PAB. Supervision: RJS CBB MTB JCW. Validation: RJS CBB MTB JCW DJM LLS. Visualization: RJS CBB MTB DJM. Writing – original draft: RJS CBB DJM. Writing – review & editing: RJS CBB MTB JCW DJM NCS KZT ARC PAB.