Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Molecular Biology

Protist diversity and phylogeny

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Abstract editorial illustration accompanying the article: A giant virus infecting an ocean alga carries a rhodopsin-like gene

A giant virus infecting an ocean alga carries a rhodopsin-like gene

Researchers have isolated the first cultivated virus known to infect a chrysophyte, an aquatic protist that can both photosynthesize and consume prey. Its genome contains a proteorhodopsin-like gene, a type of gene not previously reported in a virus, although predictions suggest the protein may not function as a light-driven proton pump.

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