identifier: traitmech:000138
label: DNase activity
definition: A physiological enzyme-activity phenotype in which a cell produces active
  DNase enzymes that hydrolyze DNA.
definition_source: DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00969
trait_category: PHYSIOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000059
synonyms:
- synonym_text: DNase production
  synonym_type: RELATED_SYNONYM
  source: DOI:10.22207/JPAM.14.1.44
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00969
  snippet: unexpected and widespread presence of DNase secretion in bacteria in general
    and in MGP more specifically
  notes: Al-Wahaibi et al. assayed marine bacterial isolates for extracellular DNase
    secretion.
- reference: DOI:10.22207/JPAM.14.1.44
  snippet: screened for their capacity to produce DNA hydrolyzing activity on DNase
    test agar plate
  notes: Asha and Krishnaveni screened halophilic marine-sediment Bacillus-group isolates
    for DNA hydrolysis on DNase test agar.
canonical_examples:
- taxon_id: NCBITaxon:2026187
  taxon_label: Bacillus pacificus
  note: Bacillus pacificus KVCMST-8A-12 was reported as a DNase-producing marine-sediment
    isolate.
  reference: DOI:10.1128/MRA.01011-21
discussions:
- discussion_id: dnase-activity-xref-gap
  prompt: Resolve an exact external ontology class for DNase activity before adding
    a TraitRecord xref.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: GO:0004536 denotes the DNA nuclease molecular function rather than the
    organism-level DNase production phenotype, so it is too scope-shifted for an equivalent
    TraitRecord xref.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-09-11'
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-09-11T00:00:00Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Minted DNase activity as a DOI-backed TraitRecord after a repository-wide
    duplicate review covering ignored and hidden files; METPO has no exact DNase activity
    class yet.
  llm_assisted: true