Genomic mapping

The viruses (hexagons) attack the algae. Credit - Technion spokesmen

Unique light receptors shared by marine giant viruses and the algae they infect

According to Prof. Oded Beja, "From the genomic mapping we conducted, we concluded that the evolutionary origin of the genes is in algae, not in the virus, and we estimate that at some point in evolution the virus 'stolen' the genes to rhodopsins in a way that allows it