About the Authors

Ethan Kolderman

Affiliation Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Deepti Bettampadi

Affiliation Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Derek Samarian

Affiliation Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Scot E. Dowd

Affiliation Molecular Research LP (MR DNA), Shallowater, TX, United States of America

Betsy Foxman

Affiliation Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Nicholas S. Jakubovics

Affiliation Centre for Oral Health Research, School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4BW, United States of America

Alexander H. Rickard

alexhr@umich.edu

Affiliation Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: The Jakubovics and Rickard labs have received research awards from Colgate-Palmolive (Piscataway, NJ) and the Society for Applied Microbiology (Bedford, UK) in the past five years. SED is CEO and the General Partner of Molecular Research LP (MR DNA) where pyrosequencing and associated analyses were conducted. SED has no other conflicts or declarations associated with this work. The use of L-arginine as a biofilm destabilizer is the subject of a patent application and AHR, NSJ, DS, EK are co-inventors in a joint filing between the University of Michigan and Newcastle University. The international application number is PCT/US14/57235. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AHR NSJ BF SED. Performed the experiments: EK DS DB SED. Analyzed the data: AHR NSJ BF EK DS DB SED. Wrote the paper: AHR NSJ BF EK DS DB SED.