Microscopic Characterization and Dynamic Visualization of Novel Structured Entities in Meteorite Cultures.

The discovery of Novel Structured Entities (NSE) in meteorite-derived cultures provides an opportunity to investigate structured formations with unique physicochemical properties and their potential role in the stabilization of genetic elements. This study employs Live Optical LED microscopy to characterize and dynamically visualize the structural properties and organizational stages of NSE under controlled conditions. Meteorite fragments from diverse locations and compositions were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium or sterile distilled water, enabling the observation of NSE morphologies, including motile vesicular structures (Free Forms), protective biofilms (Biofilm Forms), and highly mineralized laminated fibers (Resistant Forms). Staining with MTG revealed fluorescence across all observed NSE stages, suggesting an interaction with specific structural components rather than direct metabolic activity. Our findings indicate that these structured formations emerge in meteorite-derived cultures and exhibit properties suggesting resilience under extreme environmental conditions. While their organized morphology and co-occurrence with ssDNA sequences are intriguing, further research is required to determine whether this association holds any functional significance or results from unrelated culture dynamics. These results provide a structural framework for a parallel genomic study, which detected previously uncharacterized single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sequences within the same cultures, warranting further investigation into potential associations. While the origins and nature of these structured formations remain to be fully elucidated, these findings underscore the importance of integrating molecular, structural, and functional analyses to explore the persistence of genetic elements in extreme environments and their potential implications for prebiotic evolution.