About the Authors

Christopher J. Pappas

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, United States of America

Radha Iyer

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, United States of America

Mary M. Petzke

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, United States of America

Melissa J. Caimano

Affiliation Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America

Justin D. Radolf

Affiliations Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America, Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America

Ira Schwartz

Schwartz@nymc.edu

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: CJP RI MMP MJC JDR IS. Performed the experiments: CJP RI. Analyzed the data: CJP RI IS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MJC JDR IS. Wrote the paper: CJP MJC JDR IS.