identifier: traitmech:000176
label: magnetotaxis
definition: A behavioral physiology in which magnetosome-bearing motile cells align
  with geomagnetic field lines and navigate along that axis.
definition_source: DOI:10.1128/JB.00398-20
trait_category: PHYSIOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000059
synonyms:
- synonym_text: magnetotactic
  synonym_type: RELATED_SYNONYM
  source: DOI:10.1038/nrmicro842
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1128/JB.00398-20
  snippet: Magnetotactic bacteria are aquatic or sediment-dwelling microorganisms
    able to take advantage of the Earth's magnetic field for directed motility
  notes: Muller et al. review bacterial magnetotaxis as directed motility aligned
    to Earth's magnetic field.
- reference: DOI:10.1038/s41396-018-0098-9
  snippet: The origin and evolution of magnetoreception, which in diverse prokaryotes
    and protozoa is known as magnetotaxis and enables these microorganisms to detect
    Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation
  notes: Lin et al. define magnetotaxis as the magnetoreceptive orientation and navigation
    behavior of magnetotactic microorganisms.
- reference: DOI:10.1128/mbio.01649-23
  snippet: To efficiently navigate within the geomagnetic field, magnetotactic bacteria
    (MTB) align their magnetosome organelles into chains
  notes: Awal et al. support the mechanism-level distinction that magnetosome chain
    alignment underlies geomagnetic navigation.
canonical_examples:
- taxon_id: NCBITaxon:431944
  taxon_label: Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1
  note: Awal et al. used Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense as the genetically tractable
    host for functional expression of magnetotaxis-associated MamK-family magnetoskeleton
    proteins.
  reference: DOI:10.1128/mbio.01649-23
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-09-12T16:17:24Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Minted magnetotaxis as a DOI-backed TraitRecord after a repository-wide
    duplicate review covering ignored and hidden files; METPO has only an obsolete
    magnetotaxis class in the local snapshot and the replacement placeholder is reserved
    in proposals/metpo_traitmech_v53.
  llm_assisted: true
- timestamp: '2026-09-12T16:36:30Z'
  curator: codex
  action: ADD_SYNONYM
  changes: Moved the adjectival magnetotactic related synonym from the magnetosome
    organelle record onto the new magnetotaxis physiology trait; resolves issue 851.
  llm_assisted: true
- timestamp: '2026-09-12T17:05:00Z'
  curator: codex
  action: EDIT_EVIDENCE
  changes: Extended the Lin et al. magnetotaxis evidence snippet to the beginning
    of its source sentence after PR review requested stricter snippet verification;
    resolves issue 852.
  llm_assisted: true