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Wadjet system

traitmech:000218 · CLASS · PROPOSED

A genomics trait describing possession of a Wadjet anti-plasmid defense locus encoding a derivative SMC complex such as JetABCD, MksBEFG, or EptABCD that restricts circular plasmids by ATPase-dependent DNA cleavage.

Trait evidence (6)

  • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.11.015
    Wadjet systems (JetABCD/MksBEFG/EptABCD) are derivative SMC complexes with roles in bacterial immunity against selfish DNA

    Liu et al. support defining Wadjet as a recurring SMC-derived bacterial immune system spanning JetABCD, MksBEFG, and EptABCD subfamilies.

  • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.09.008
    the Wadjet defense system recognizes DNA topology to protect its host against plasmid transformation

    Deep et al. support the standard Wadjet defense system name and connect the system to anti-plasmid immunity.

  • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.09.008
    Wadjet forms a complex similar to the bacterial condensin complex MukBEF, with a novel nuclease subunit similar to a type II DNA topoisomerase

    Deep et al. support the SMC-family complex architecture and JetD-like nuclease component.

  • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.11.015
    Purified JetABCD complexes cleave circular DNA molecules, regardless of the DNA helical topology; cleavage is DNA sequence nonspecific and depends on the SMC ATPase

    Liu et al. connect JetABCD SMC ATPase activity to sequence-independent cleavage of circular plasmid DNA.

  • DOI:10.1093/nar/gkad130
    MksG is a nuclease that degrades plasmid DNA

    Weiss et al. support the MksG nuclease as the executing plasmid-DNA-degradation component of MksBEFG.

  • DOI:10.1093/nar/gkad130
    Introduction of plasmids results in an increase in DNA bound MksG, indicating an activation of the system in vivo

    Weiss et al. support plasmid-responsive activation of the Corynebacterium glutamicum MksBEFG system in vivo.

Wadjet SMC complexes cleave circular plasmid DNA

Evidence-backed process sketch linking a Wadjet locus to SMC ATPase cycling, Wadjet nuclease-mediated circular plasmid cleavage, and restriction of plasmid transformation.

NONMECHANISTIC · The graph captures JetABCD and MksBEFG family-level anti-plasmid outputs without asserting one universal subfamily architecture, plasmid size threshold, linear plasmid escape rule, polar scaffold, DNA-loop-extrusion state, or activation cue across all Wadjet loci.

Wadjet SMC complexes cleave circular plasmid DNA Interactive directed graph showing evidence-backed causal relationships for Wadjet system.

Edge evidence

  • Wadjet locus contributes to Wadjet SMC ATPase cycle RO:0002326

    Wadjet loci encode derivative SMC complexes with Jet, Mks, or Ept ATPase cores.

    • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.11.015 Wadjet systems (JetABCD/MksBEFG/EptABCD) are derivative SMC complexes with roles in bacterial immunity against selfish DNA Liu et al. support JetABCD, MksBEFG, and EptABCD as Wadjet-family SMC complexes.
  • Wadjet SMC ATPase cycle enables Wadjet plasmid DNA cleavage RO:0002327

    The Wadjet SMC ATPase cycle enables nuclease-driven cleavage of circular plasmid DNA.

    • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.11.015 Purified JetABCD complexes cleave circular DNA molecules, regardless of the DNA helical topology; cleavage is DNA sequence nonspecific and depends on the SMC ATPase Liu et al. support SMC-ATPase-dependent cleavage by purified JetABCD.
    • DOI:10.1093/nar/gkad130 The MksBEF subunits exhibit an ATPase cycle in vitro Weiss et al. support ATPase cycling by the C. glutamicum MksBEF core.
  • Wadjet plasmid DNA cleavage mitigates plasmid transformation METPO:2007407

    Wadjet-mediated plasmid DNA cleavage restricts incoming circular plasmids.

    • DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.09.008 the Wadjet defense system recognizes DNA topology to protect its host against plasmid transformation Deep et al. support Wadjet-mediated protection against plasmid transformation.
  • Wadjet plasmid DNA cleavage confers Wadjet system METPO:2007700

    Wadjet nuclease-mediated plasmid DNA cleavage is the anti-plasmid output that realizes the Wadjet system trait.

    • DOI:10.1093/nar/gkad130 MksG is a nuclease that degrades plasmid DNA Weiss et al. support MksG nuclease activity as a Wadjet/MksBEFG plasmid-degradation output.

Provenance

Identifier source
TraitMech local identifier
Definition source
DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.11.015

Parent traits (1)

Children (1)

Synonyms (1)

  • Wadjet defense system EXACT_SYNONYM · DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2022.09.008

kg-microbe context

No kg-microbe node embedding matched this record in the 2026-04-25 deepwalk.

Canonical examples (1)

Organisms cited as exemplars of this trait. Taxon ids are NCBITaxon and link out to the NCBI record.

  • Corynebacterium glutamicum NCBITaxon:1718 DOI:10.1093/nar/gkad130 Weiss et al. investigated the Corynebacterium glutamicum MksBEFG complex and showed that plasmid introduction increased DNA-bound MksG in vivo.

Discussions and Knowledge Gaps (1)

Open questions attached to this trait. Seeded by just knowledge-gap-scan and curated; see the corpus-wide index.

Resolve JetABCD, EptABCD, DefenseFinder Wadjet subtype boundaries, plasmid substrate specificity, and activation cues before minting additional narrower Wadjet mechanism children.

KNOWLEDGE GAP OPEN wadjet-subfamily-and-substrate-gap · raised by codex · 2026-09-15

Not yet attached to a section of this record — a curator sets attaches_to (e.g. causal_graphs#some_edge) so the gap shows beside the mechanism it concerns.

Deep et al. and Liu et al. support JetABCD-mediated topology- or shape-biased circular plasmid cleavage and the broad JetABCD/MksBEFG/EptABCD Wadjet family, while the MksBEFG child now captures the Weiss et al. plasmid-degradation branch. The parent still leaves JetABCD, EptABCD, DefenseFinder Wadjet I-III boundaries, exact target size threshold, linear-plasmid escape rule, loop-extrusion endpoint, polar localization pattern, and nuclease activation models for additional Wadjet variants unresolved.

Curation history

  1. · MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID · codex

    Minted Wadjet system as a DOI-backed GENOMICS TraitRecord after an ignored-and-hidden duplicate review found no exact live TraitMech, METPO, or prior proposal record; the replacement placeholder is reserved in proposals/metpo_traitmech_v95.

  2. · RESOLVE_DISCUSSION_SCOPE · codex

    Documented MksBEFG as split out in the open Wadjet subfamily and substrate discussion after minting traitmech:000526 for the MksBEFG system; JetABCD, EptABCD, and DefenseFinder Wadjet subtype boundaries remain open.