Nanotechnology has remained relevant as a multifacet discipline, which cuts across different areas of science and technology. Several successful attempts had been documented regarding the involvement of biological materials in the green synthesis of various metal nanoparticles (MeNPs) because of their eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, safe handling, and ultimately less toxicity as opposed to the physical and chemical methods with their concomitant problems. Biological agents, including bacteria, fungi, algae, enzymes, plants, and their extracts, have been implicated in most cases by several authors. Moreover, nanotechnology in recent times has also made an inroad for animal species, specifically arthropods and metabolites thereof to be used as excellent candidates for the green synthesis of MeNPs. The increasing literature on the use of metabolites of arthropods for the green synthesis of nanoparticles has necessitated the need to document a review on their relevance in nanobiotechnology. The review, which represents the first of its kind, seeks to underscore the importance of arthropods in the multidisciplinary subject of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Green synthesis of nanoparticles has fuelled the use of biomaterials to synthesise a variety of metallic nanoparticles. The current study investigates the use of xylanases of L3 (NEA) and L2 (TEA) to synthesise silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Characterisation of AgNPs was carried out using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy, while their effectiveness as antimicrobial, antioxidant, catalytic, anticoagulant, and thrombolytic agents were determined. The colloidal AgNPs was brownish with surface plasmon resonance at 402.5 and 410 nm for NEA-AgNPs and TEA-AgNPs, respectively; while FTIR indicated that protein molecules were responsible for the capping and stabilisation of the nanoparticles. The spherical nanoparticles had size of 15.21-77.49 nm. The nanoparticles significantly inhibited the growth of tested bacteria (63.20-88.10%) and fungi (82.20-86.10%), and also scavenged DPPH (37.48-79.42%) and hydrogen peroxide (20.50-96.50%). In addition, the AgNPs degraded malachite green (78.97%) and methylene blue (25.30%). Furthermore, the AgNPs displayed excellent anticoagulant and thrombolytic activities using human blood. This study has demonstrated the potential of xylanases to synthesise AgNPs which is to the best of our knowledge the first record of such. The present study underscores the relevance of xylanases in nanobiotechnology.
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