TraitMech

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lethal algicidal activity

traitmech:000695 · CLASS · PROPOSED

A physiological capability of a microorganism to kill cells of eukaryotic algae or cyanobacteria.

Trait evidence (3)

  • DOI:10.1128/AEM.64.8.2806-2813.1998
    All G. catenatum cells in strain Y-treated wells were dead and most cells had lysed after 2 days.

    Lovejoy et al. 1998, PMID:9687434, PMC106776, Results sec9. Scientific Abstract, algal-culture/toxicity Methods, activity and specificity Results, Discussion, Tables 1/2/4/5 and actual Figure 2 inspected. Other actual figures and remaining Methods unread. Strain Y and filtrate support killing, unlike reversible ecdysis or rounding in other targets. Some dinoflagellate controls also died in separate experiments; raphidophyte controls remained healthy. P. carrageenovora was not uniformly harmless. Close affinity to P. peptidysin is not exact species identification. EXT_ID:9687434 AND SRC:MED matched source, ID, title and DOI on 2026-10-11. Full-text quotation directly matched; abstract matching alone cannot verify this passage.

  • DOI:10.1128/AEM.66.10.4334-4339.2000
    The marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain A28 was able to kill the diatom Skeletonema costatum strain NIES-324.

    Lee et al. 2000, PMID:11010878, PMC92304, scientific Abstract. Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Tables 1/2 and actual Figures 1/2 inspected; actual Figures 3/4 unread. Parental A28 culture and supernatant support the capability. Results sec11 reports no regrowth after transfer from cleared agar, distinguishing algicidal from algistatic, but that experiment is data not shown. Protease II lacked algicidal action despite protease activity. Six N-terminal residues do not establish full AprI identity; NH1/NH2 are mutagenized derivatives, not natural exemplars. A separate group from Lovejoy et al., not a replication of strain Y. EXT_ID:11010878 AND SRC:MED matched source, ID, title and DOI on 2026-10-11; quotation matched direct scientific Abstract and qualified API abstract.

  • DOI:10.3390/toxins15030220
    The cyanobacterial cell walls were severely damaged, leading to the leakage of intracellular components.

    Zhang et al. 2023, PMID:36977111, PMC10058357, Results 2.4. Scientific Abstract, Introduction, Results 2.1-2.4, Discussion, Methods 5.1-5.4/5.8/5.12 and actual Figure 3 with caption inspected; other figures and supplement unread. Filtrate damage/lysis supports cyanobacterial target scope. Methods 5.3 calculates relative cell-density reduction versus controls, not a direct dead-cell fraction; no percentage is adopted. Results 2.1 calls HY #320 from 411 isolates, versus #332/412 in Methods 5.2 and #332 in Figure 1 caption; provenance remains unreconciled. Molecular agents are unidentified; transcription changes alone do not establish causal protein edges. EXT_ID:36977111 AND SRC:MED matched source, ID, title and DOI on 2026-10-11. Quotation directly matched full text.

Provenance

Identifier source
TraitMech local identifier
Definition source
DOI:10.1128/AEM.66.10.4334-4339.2000

Parent traits (1)

kg-microbe context

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

Discussions and Knowledge Gaps (2)

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

Resolve mappings while retaining a lethal endpoint and actor-level scope.

CURATION TODO OPEN lethal-algicidal-scope-and-mappings · raised by codex · 2026-10-11

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.

The lethal qualifier distinguishes this capability from broader algicidal usage. Paul and Pohnert 2011, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0021032, Methods Monitoring algicidal activity and Results, uses fluorescence-based growth inhibition as an algicidal readout; those directly read passages provide terminology context, not additional killing evidence. This record requires killing, not reduced fluorescence, reversible growth arrest, ecdysis, passive removal or a protease sequence alone. It denotes the acting microbe's capability, not an algicide molecule, treated alga's susceptibility or assay row. Cyanobacteria are included explicitly, not classified as eukaryotic algae. Activity against some susceptible targets suffices; universal host range is not asserted. Predatory bacterium traitmech:000054 requires killing and consuming bacteria for nutrients, so it is not a parent of this class. Killing may overlap predation but neither consumption, grazing nor nutritional benefit is required or inferred; no organismal disjointness is asserted. No exact synonym or phenotype xref is assigned pending authority and scope review.

Reconcile study strains and build independently supported mechanism graphs.

KNOWLEDGE GAP OPEN lethal-algicidal-strains-and-mechanisms · raised by codex · 2026-10-11

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.

Canonical examples await authoritative strain/taxon reconciliation, including HY's conflicting isolate numbers. Retain source strain names as qualified evidence without species-wide assignments or promotion of induced mutants. Secreted activity is demonstrated, not a universal restriction excluding contact-dependent routes. Neither a common protein mechanism, a universal lethal threshold, bloom-control efficacy nor environmental safety is established. Protein graphs require exact functional evidence and taxon-paired accessions, not a short sequence match. Mechanisms are deferred, not claimed absent.

Curation history

  1. · MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID · codex

    Added lethal algicidal activity beneath phenotype with three primary DOI citations and directly checked short snippets. Ignored-and-hidden main/worktree/open-PR checks support 000695 and v571 block 1064800-1064899. Existing records unchanged; mappings, canonical taxa and mechanisms remain open. Timestamp records the observed UTC curation decision.

Recorded curation sessions

  • · codex
    • CREATE — Add source-bounded lethal algicidal activity phenotype

      Created traitmech:000695 as a PROPOSED PHYSIOLOGY class beneath METPO:1000059 with three primary DOI references and directly checked contiguous quotations. Qualifies the lethal endpoint, explicitly includes cyanobacterial targets, and retains study controls, isolate discrepancies and unresolved canonical taxa, mappings and mechanisms. Companion v571 reserves METPO:1064800-1064899. All 22 pre-existing worktrees were searched including ignored/hidden files; all four current open PRs including draft 924 were inspected at immutable heads. Existing records and protected spore germination are unchanged. Guarded writer focused tests passed 20/20; full validation follows separately.

    Read this curation session