identifier: traitmech:000154
label: ornithine decarboxylase activity
definition: A physiological enzyme-activity phenotype in which a cell produces active
  ornithine decarboxylase enzymes that decarboxylate L-ornithine to putrescine and
  carbon dioxide.
definition_source: https://iubmb.qmul.ac.uk/enzyme/EC4/1/1/17.html
trait_category: PHYSIOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000059
evidence:
- reference: https://iubmb.qmul.ac.uk/enzyme/EC4/1/1/17.html
  snippet: 'Reaction: L-ornithine = putrescine + CO2'
  notes: The NC-IUBMB EC 4.1.1.17 entry defines ornithine decarboxylase by its accepted
    name and reaction from L-ornithine to putrescine and CO2, grounding the enzyme
    activity named by the organism-level phenotype.
- reference: DOI:10.1128/jb.124.2.791-799.1975
  snippet: Several Escherichia coli K-12 mutants blocked in the synthesis of ornithine
    decarboxylase (OD) were isolated after transduction for serA+ in a strain (MA197)
    blocked in agmatine ureohydrolase (AUH) with a mutagenized phage lysate of P1.
    The new double-polyamine mutants were characterized by an unconditional polyamine
    dependence; either putrescine or spermidine was required for normal growth. The
    mutational block was varified by the demonstration of a virtual absence of OD
    activity in cellular extracts.
  notes: Cunningham-Rundles and Maas isolated Escherichia coli K-12 mutants blocked
    in ornithine decarboxylase synthesis and verified the loss of OD activity, supporting
    E. coli K-12 as a direct organismal example for the activity.
canonical_examples:
- taxon_id: NCBITaxon:83333
  taxon_label: Escherichia coli K-12
  note: Cunningham-Rundles and Maas isolated E. coli K-12 speC mutants with a virtual
    absence of ornithine decarboxylase activity in cellular extracts.
  reference: DOI:10.1128/jb.124.2.791-799.1975
discussions:
- discussion_id: ornithine-decarboxylase-activity-xref-gap
  prompt: Resolve an exact external ontology class for ornithine decarboxylase activity
    before adding a TraitRecord xref.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: GO:0004586 carries the same ornithine decarboxylase activity label but
    denotes the enzyme molecular function rather than the organism-level ornithine
    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: '2026-09-12T02:38:18Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Minted ornithine decarboxylase activity as a URL/DOI-backed TraitRecord
    after a repository-wide duplicate review covering ignored and hidden files; METPO
    has no exact ornithine decarboxylase activity class yet.
  llm_assisted: true