identifier: traitmech:000153
label: lysine decarboxylase activity
definition: A physiological enzyme-activity phenotype in which a cell produces active
  lysine decarboxylase enzymes that decarboxylate L-lysine to cadaverine and carbon
  dioxide.
definition_source: https://iubmb.qmul.ac.uk/enzyme/EC4/1/1/18.html
trait_category: PHYSIOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000059
evidence:
- reference: https://iubmb.qmul.ac.uk/enzyme/EC4/1/1/18.html
  snippet: 'Reaction: L-lysine = cadaverine + CO2'
  notes: The NC-IUBMB EC 4.1.1.18 entry defines lysine decarboxylase by its accepted
    name and reaction from L-lysine to cadaverine and CO2, grounding the enzyme activity
    named by the organism-level phenotype.
- reference: DOI:10.1128/jb.01306-06
  snippet: Unexpectedly, the tolerance of P(i)-starved cells to fermentation acids
    was markedly increased as a result of the activity of the inducible CadBA lysine-dependent
    acid resistance system that consumes one proton and produces the diamine cadaverine.
  notes: Moreau showed that the Escherichia coli inducible CadBA lysine-dependent
    acid resistance system produces cadaverine during phosphate starvation.
canonical_examples:
- taxon_id: NCBITaxon:562
  taxon_label: Escherichia coli
  note: Moreau reported CadBA lysine-dependent acid resistance activity in phosphate-starved
    Escherichia coli.
  reference: DOI:10.1128/jb.01306-06
discussions:
- discussion_id: lysine-decarboxylase-activity-xref-gap
  prompt: Resolve an exact external ontology class for lysine decarboxylase activity
    before adding a TraitRecord xref.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: GO:0008923 carries the same lysine decarboxylase activity label but denotes
    the enzyme molecular function rather than the organism-level lysine decarboxylase
    production phenotype, so it is appropriate as a causal-node grounding rather than
    an equivalent TraitRecord xref.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-09-12'
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-09-12T01:35:50Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Minted lysine decarboxylase activity as a URL/DOI-backed TraitRecord after
    a repository-wide duplicate review covering ignored and hidden files; METPO has
    no exact lysine decarboxylase activity class yet.
  llm_assisted: true