identifier: traitmech:000185
label: akinete
definition: A morphology trait in which a filamentous cyanobacterium differentiates
  enlarged, thick-coated, spore-like dormant cells called akinetes that can germinate
  into vegetative cells.
definition_source: DOI:10.1159/000517443
trait_category: MORPHOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000059
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1159/000517443
  snippet: Some cyanobacteria of the order Nostocales can form akinetes, spore-like
    dormant cells resistant to various unfavorable environmental fluctuations.
  notes: Garg and Maldener support akinetes as spore-like dormant cells formed by
    Nostocales cyanobacteria under unfavorable environmental conditions.
- reference: DOI:10.1159/000517443
  snippet: Akinetes are enveloped in a thick protective coat containing a multilayered
    structure and are able to germinate into new vegetative cells under suitable growth
    conditions.
  notes: The source supports the thick protective coat and vegetative-cell germination
    clauses in the local definition.
- reference: DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2025.1677844
  snippet: Raphidiopsis raciborskii (Nostocales) is a successful invader of temperate
    ecosystems originating from the tropics that forms akinetes in their new habitats
    to overcome unfavorable winter conditions.
  notes: Rios-Henriquez and Weithoff provide a second Nostocales cyanobacterium study
    supporting akinete formation as an unfavorable-condition dormancy trait.
canonical_examples:
- taxon_id: NCBITaxon:240292
  taxon_label: Trichormus variabilis ATCC 29413
  note: Model Nostocales strain still cited in the akinete literature as Anabaena
    variabilis ATCC 29413; the NCBI Taxonomy record lists that name as an equivalent
    name.
  reference: DOI:10.1159/000517443
discussions:
- discussion_id: akinete-exact-xref-gap
  prompt: Resolve exact external ontology xrefs for the cyanobacterial akinete morphology
    trait.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: The pinned METPO snapshot contains only deprecated akinete classes, including
    METPO:1000012 obsolete akinete; no active METPO, GO, or OBO class was accepted
    as an exact equivalent for this cyanobacterial dormant-cell trait.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-09-14'
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-09-14T15:47:55Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Minted akinete as a DOI-backed TraitRecord after a repository-wide duplicate
    review covering ignored and hidden files; live METPO has no active exact akinete
    class and the placeholder is reserved in proposals/metpo_traitmech_v62.
  llm_assisted: true