Data for: Photosystems in the eye-like organelles of heterotrophic warnowiid dinoflagellates

The function of the eye-like ocelloid in warnowiid dinoflagellates remains
unknown because warnowiids are rare and uncultured, and scant molecular
data exists for this group. While the ocelloid resembles the camera-type
eyes found in animals, it is composed of organelles, with a highly
modified plastid serving as the retinal body. By performing single-cell
transcriptomics on cells isolated from the environment, we generate a
comprehensive molecular dataset of warnowiids that includes all four known
genera and one previously undescribed genus. We show that the
heterotrophic members of this group have retained and express components
of the ancestral photosynthetic mechanism, seemingly without photosystem
II and RuBisCo. Our findings suggest that the ocelloid retinal body has
repurposed the remaining photosystem to perform a function other than
photosynthesis.