Silver nanoparticles are receiving increasing attention in the field of agriculture. This study aims at evaluating the antifungal properties of green synthesised silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Aloe vera leaf extract against two pathogenic fungus Rhizopus sp. and Aspergillus sp. Results revealed that synthesised nanoparticles showed strong absorption maximum at 400 nm corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, FT-IR and UVVis spectroscopy. From the scanning photograph it is clear that particles are heterogeneous in shape such as rectangular, triangular and spherical with uniform distribution. FT-IR study showed sharp absorption peaks at 1,631 and 3,433 cm -1 for amide and alcoholic hydroxide groups, respectively. On the other hand, synthesised silver nanoparticles showed highest antifungal activity against Aspergillus sp. than Rhizopus sp. by application of 100 lL of 1 M silver nanoparticles with maximum inhibition of the growth of fungal hyphae. However, microscopic observation revealed that synthesised nanoparticles caused detrimental effects on conidial germination along with other deformations such as structure of cell membrane and inhibited normal budding process of both the tested species. Therefore, it has been concluded that Aloe vera leaf extract origin silver nanoparticles have tremendous potentiality towards controlling pathogenic fungus. However, further research is needed to check the efficacy of sizedependent AgNPs on different species of fungus.

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Abstract.Mosquito Bourne disease is a major threat to public health in urban areas. Synthetic insecticides often results adverse environmental effects. The present paper deals with the control of mosquito larvae using cigarette butts (CBs), an waste product. Cigatette butts are thrown everywhere, where it may cause severe problem as it contains several toxic materials. These toxic materials can cause harm to our environment. It is also reported in literature that in the water bodies where the cigarette butts are thrown mosquito larvae has developed resistance against them. So, the present paper deals with the control of mosquito larval control using cigarette butts. CB extract was prepared in laboratory and it was characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, pH and conductance. FTIR spectra clearly indicate the presence of phenolic and primary amine containing functional groups. Larvicidal experiments were done in laboratory conditions. The results demonstrated that the mosquito mortality is absolutely concentration dependent. Perhaps this is the first report that aqueous extract of CBs can acts as mosquito larvicidal activity.

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