By the Light of the Moon

So, I had an idea. Lycacanthropes are altered by the light of the moon, right? But why not the sun? The moon's light is just a reflection of it.
So I got to thinking. Lycanthropes transmit their affliction through bites and cuts, so let's just assume it's viral or bacterial. Now, certain lifeforms are very dependent on sunlight, or light in general. White light can be divided into the visible spectrum of colors via a prism. So, perhaps the moon's not a ball of relatively inert rock, but actually has a surface covered with crystal formations and the like. When sunlight hits these crystals, they act as a prism, and the newly divided light is reflected back to the Earth's surface where it hits the skin of an individual carrying the virus/bacteria/whatever, agitating it and causing the carrier to transform somehow, perhaps only partially transforming when there's less moonlight out, hence the full moon thing.
I was thinking the virus/bacteria/whatever (hereafter referred to as the v/b/w) maybe does something with the DNA or some such, and when transmitted, those features inherent to the original creature are then passed on to the next creature. I guess the cycle would probably stop there.
I'll admit that it's not very well thought out, and would be more believable as some nanomachine thing (which is saying something, plausibility wise) than a virus or what have you.

Idea for an Admittedly Soft Sci-Fi Race

Partly inspired by this, this, and a random guy on an image board.

There is a plant on an alien world out there not unlike the banana tree of Earth. It's not exactly a tree, but rather has the illusion of a "trunk" due to the large vertical stem and multiple layers of leaves that grow upwards in a spiraling cylindrical fashion. The roots have evolved into a complex system, analogous to a nervous system in animals, and resting atop it, in the trunk, is a sort of brain, protected and hidden by the leaves around it. These trees form forests, with deep root systems connecting any one tree to every nearby tree in the forest.
Now, during photosynthesis, something like glucose, or more like a crystalline cane sugar is formed and used for energy. However, the brains the trees possess can consciously direct the growth of these crystalline sugars into complex patterns, which serve as a language for communicating ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. These small crystals are then funneled through a hollow root down into the ground, and taken up by another hollow root from a nearby tree, that takes the sugary crystal and digests it, noting where it possesses structure and does not, much like a primitive computer reading a punch card. This allows the trees to communicate with their neighbors, and pass along messages over the whole forest.
About what, I have no idea. They can clearly move, to an extent, but they'd be otherwise stationary. Maybe they migrate to follow the light. Maybe the crystals also serve as art, depending? Like, certain crystals are pretty in demand. I don't know.
Basically, stationary and communal tree people who communicate by giving each other rock candy to munch on.