identifier: traitmech:000701
label: collective bacterial predation
definition: A predatory bacterial phenotype in which cells act in coordinated multicellular
  groups to kill bacterial prey and obtain nutrients from the killed cells.
definition_source: DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-41193-x
trait_category: ECOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- traitmech:000054
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-41193-x
  snippet: Myxococcus xanthus forages and moves collectively to prey and feed on other
    bacterial species.
  notes: 'Rombouts et al. 2023, PMID:37696789, PMC10495355, scientific abstract, not
    the separate editor summary. Identity checked with EXT_ID:37696789 AND SRC:MED
    plus matching title and DOI. Results on cell-state transitions, A/S motility,
    trail following and prey lysis, Discussion and relevant Methods were read directly.
    Figure 5 and Supplementary Table 1 (p. 12) were visually inspected. The table
    identifies DZ2 laboratory material and engineered reporters or motility mutants;
    the paper''s wild-type designation does not establish an untouched natural isolate.
    The prey is E. coli MG1655 with HU-mCherry for the lysis readout. Figure 5 measures
    prey fluorescence loss relative to an uninvaded zone, not direct nutrient assimilation
    or individual fitness benefits. Motility perturbations support contributions to
    efficient predation in this assay, not universal group obligacy. Raw movies and
    source data were not independently reanalyzed. MED and Crossref exposed a preprint
    relationship, not a linked correction/retraction; none was identified on the retrieved
    publisher page. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41193-x.'
- reference: DOI:10.1128/AEM.02286-19
  snippet: In addition to group hunting, individual M. xanthus cells are able to kill
    and lyse prey cells
  notes: 'Zhang et al. 2020, PMID:31704687, PMC6974655, scientific ABSTRACT, not the
    separate IMPORTANCE text. Qualified MED identity and title/DOI checked. The PMC
    Results and Discussion subsections on post-killing behavior and conclusions, Methods
    strain table and tracking analysis were also read. This is primary counterevidence
    to obligate group-only killing: DK1622 cells can kill E. coli individually. Prey-fragment
    consumption inferences do not constitute a direct assimilation assay. The delta-aglZ
    analysis also included individuals in groups of two or three and is not uniformly
    a solitary-cell dataset. This paper is boundary evidence, not independent replication
    of the 2023 collective-motility experiment. MED and Crossref exposed no linked
    correction/retraction; publisher access returned HTTP 403, leaving publisher notice
    status unverified. Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6974655/.'
discussions:
- discussion_id: collective-predation-scope-and-cooperation
  prompt: Keep coordinated group feeding distinct from claims of obligatory cooperation.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: 'Predatory bacterium traitmech:000054 supplies killing and nutrition;
    coordinated multicellular predation supplies the differentia. Mere cell density,
    aggregation, motility or prey lysis without feeding is insufficient. This is a
    capability expressed by cells in a group context, not a claim that a lone cell
    displays a collective phenotype. It does not require every cell to attack one
    prey simultaneously or benefit equally. Solitary killing and collective feeding
    can coexist in the same organism; no obligate group dependence or disjointness
    is asserted. Cooperative predation and wolf-pack predation are not assigned exact
    synonym status: cooperation in an evolutionary fitness sense requires separate
    evidence. The 2023 scout/loner/swarm bins are analysis states, not distinct primary
    traits. Swarming motility traitmech:000062 is explicitly flagella-dependent; gliding
    METPO:1000706 and twitching traitmech:000061 do not require predation. Epibiotic,
    periplasmic and cytoplasmic predation classify predator location, not group organization.
    No exact xrefs or synonyms are assigned.'
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-10-11'
- discussion_id: collective-predation-examples-and-mechanism
  prompt: Resolve natural examples and mechanism breadth without inferring feeding
    from sequence.
  kind: KNOWLEDGE_GAP
  status: OPEN
  rationale: The directly inspected collective-imaging evidence concerns DZ2 laboratory
    material, engineered reporters and motility perturbations. Canonical examples
    remain unset pending natural material provenance and independently checked taxon
    identity. A- and S-motility contribute to the studied M. xanthus assay, but their
    combination is not imposed on every possible bearer of this trophic phenotype.
    A causal graph and protein examples are deferred until taxon-scoped machinery
    and mechanism boundaries are grounded. Motility genes, secretion systems, hydrolases
    or other sequence features alone do not establish coordinated prey consumption.
    Direct nutrient assimilation and individual fitness benefits require evidence
    beyond the reported fluorescence-loss readout. These limits are not evidence that
    collective predation is absent.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-10-11'
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-10-11T16:59:40Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Added collective bacterial predation beneath predatory bacterium with DOI-backed
    collective-motility and solitary-killing evidence and two checked scientific-abstract
    snippets. Ignored/hidden main/worktree and pending-PR checks support 000701 and
    v577 block 1065400-1065499. Existing records unchanged; cooperation, natural examples
    and mechanism breadth remain explicitly bounded. Timestamp records the observed
    UTC curation decision.
  llm_assisted: true