Screening of filamentous fungi for antimicrobial silver nanoparticles synthesis

Abstract

The present work had the goal of screening a batch of 20 fungal strains, isolated from sugar cane plantation soil, in order to identify those capable of biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are known to have a large and effective application in clinical microbiology. Four strains were found to be capable of biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. The biosynthesised nanoparticles were characterised by UV–vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, EDX, and XRD. They were found to have an average size of 30–100 nm, a regular round shape, and potential antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antimicrobial activity was found to be directly related to the nanoparticles concentration. Mycogenic synthesis of nanoparticles is a green biogenic process preferable to other alternatives. Because fungi are great producers of extracellular enzymes this process makes scaling-up an easier task with high importance for clinical microbiology on the fight against microbial resistance, as well as for other industrial applications.

Extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using the cell-free filtrate of nematophagous fungus <em>Duddingtonia flagrans</em>

“…2,3 Furthermore, fungi are good candidates for large-scale production owing their resistance to flow pressure, agitation, and other bioreactor cultivation conditions. 4,5 More recently, many authors have used fungi in biosynthetic routes to produce metallic NPs, 6,7 which generally involves reduction and functionalization of metallic NPs. However, major challenges still exist at the surface level that prevent their biological applications.…”

“…However, major challenges still exist at the surface level that prevent their biological applications. [7][8][9] These challenges include molecular vibrations analysis on the silver NPs (AgNPs) surface and the synthesis of monodispersed NPs, crucial parameters for success in their application as antimicrobial, [10][11][12] anticancer, 13,14 and drug delivery.…”

Biogenic Metal Nanoparticles: A New Approach to Detect Life on Mars?

“…MNPs have unique physical properties, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, and are clearly distinguished from bulk metals due to their reactivity, as well as their mechanical, electromagnetic, chemical, and optical properties, which are conferred by the confinement effect [3][4][5]. MNPs often display surface Plasmon resonance, which leads to absorption in the UV-Vis region and distinct optoelectronic characteristics, which facilitates their detection.…”

“…With the increased development of nanotechnology and its research, many applications of MNPs have already been implemented ( Figure 1) and more developments are expected [4]. [2,4,5,7]).…”

“…Another application is their use for removal of contaminants in food, e.g., bisphenol A (BPA) from milk [7]. [2,4,5,7]).…”