Evidence for the acquisition of a proteorhodopsin-like rhodopsin by a chrysophyte-infecting giant virus

Chrysophytes are widespread nanoflagellate protists in aquatic ecosystems with diverse trophic strategies ranging from phototrophy to heterotrophy. Here, we report the first isolation of a chrysophyte-infecting virus, Chrysophyceae clade-H virus SA1, referred to hereafter as ChrysoHV, on a sympatric mixotrophic chrysophyte. Both host and virus were isolated from surface waters in the subtropical North Pacific. The ChrysoHV capsid (291 ± 42 nm diameter) is associated with a loose, sac-like membrane that extends its effective diameter (716 ± 115 nm), and presents a long, thin tail extending 1,202 (± 243) nm. This unique morphology has not been previously observed in other isolates or environmental surveys. The sequenced, assembled genome is 1.19 Mbp, and phylogenetic analysis places ChrysoHV as the third cultivated member of the Aliimimivirinae subfamily in the Mimiviridae family of giant viruses. ChrysoHV is the first cultivated member of Aliimimivirinae to encode a rhodopsin, which has high phylogenetic relatedness and structural similarity to proteorhodopsin sequences retrieved from the same subtropical research site. The most closely related sequences from cultivated organisms derive from bacteria in the genus Pelagibacter . This suggests that ChrysoHV acquired the proteorhodopsin-like protein through lateral gene transfer from the chrysophyte’s bacterial prey.