New clues to origins of complex life revealed by Ļć½¶Ö±²„biologist in Nature journal
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.āMississippi State biologist Matthew W. Brown, the universityās Donald L. Hall Professor of Biology, is part of an international research team whose groundbreaking discovery is featured today [Nov. 19] in Natureāone of the worldās most prestigious scientific journals. The published research unearths a new organism and phylum, reshaping the tree of life.
The study describes the discovery of Solarion arienae, a previously unknown unicellular organism that provides new insight into the earliest stages of complex life on Earth. This microscopic protistāa tiny, single-cell organism seen only via a microscopeāwas discovered through collaboration between Brownās lab at Ļć½¶Ö±²„and Ivan ÄepiÄkaās laboratory at Charles University in the Czech Republic. The organism displays two distinct cell types and a unique predatory structure unlike any seen before.
By analyzing Solarion arienaeās genetic and cellular makeup, the research team identified traces of ancient mitochondrial pathwaysāmolecular machinery inherited from the bacteria that originally gave rise to mitochondria.
These findings suggest that the earliest eukaryotes were far more metabolically versatile than their modern descendants.
The study also establishes a new phylum, Caelestes, and introduces a previously unrecognized eukaryotic supergroup, Disparia, reshaping the deepest levels of the tree of life and transforming scientistsā understanding of how complex cells evolved.
Brown, who served as co-corresponding author, said the discovery āoffers a rare window into early eukaryotic evolution, helping us reconstruct how the building blocks of complex life first came together.
āThe existence of Solarion and the discovery of its closest relatives fundamentally expands our view of eukaryotic biodiversity, supporting a revised framework of early mitochondrial evolution, and to me, most importantly demonstrates how classical cultivation can still reveal lineages that reshape our understanding of lifeās deepest branches,ā Brown added.
Last month, Brown was named the 2025 recipient of MSUās Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award, the universityās highest honor for research achievement. The award, established in memory of Ļć½¶Ö±²„alumnus and former vice president for research Ralph E. Powe, recognizes one faculty member each year whose work exemplifies innovation and global impact.
A leading figure in evolutionary biology, Brown has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers with nearly 9,000 citations and secured nearly $4 million in research funding. His work explores microorganisms and how complex organisms evolved from microbial ancestors, combining microscopy, genomics, bioinformatics and evolutionary biology to study how life unfolded across eons of time.
Also this fall, Brown received new support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which awarded an $870,000 collaborative grant to Brownās Ļć½¶Ö±²„lab and one at Texas Tech University, led by Brownās former Ļć½¶Ö±²„graduate student and Texas Tech Assistant Professor Alexander K. Tice. The project will expand a widely used software suite that helps scientists construct large-scale evolutionary datasets with greater precision and transparency. The Brown Lab will receive $436,427 to advance the toolās development, extend its reach across the tree of life and host international training workshops for evolutionary biologists.
Brownās work has been featured in multiple high-impact journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where his study on 750-million-year-old microbial fossils also sheds light on Earthās early evolutionary history. His research also has been supported by a National Science Foundation grant exceeding $1 million to explore the evolutionary history of one of lifeās oldest lineages, the Amoebozoa.
Since joining Ļć½¶Ö±²„in 2013, Brown has earned numerous accolades, including the 2018 College of Arts and Sciences Deanās Eminent Scholar Award and election as a fellow of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology.
For more details about Brownās research, visit .
For more information aboutĀ MSUāsĀ College of Arts and SciencesĢż²¹²Ō»åĀ the Department of Biological Sciences, visitĀ Ģż²¹²Ō»å .
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