About the Authors

Naomi Higa

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Claudia Toma

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Yukiko Koizumi

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Noboru Nakasone

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Toshitsugu Nohara

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Junya Masumoto

Affiliation Department of Pathogenomics, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan

Toshio Kodama

Affiliation International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

Tetsuya Iida

Affiliation International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

Toshihiko Suzuki

t-suzuki@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp

Affiliation Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: NH CT TS. Performed the experiments: NH CT TS. Analyzed the data: NH CT TS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: YK NN TN JM TK TI. Wrote the paper: TS.