Abstract
Nanotechnology needs to develop alternative method to chemical synthesis. One such method is biological synthesis employing microorganisms, that is reliable, non-toxic, clean and ecofriendly. In this paper the novel marine-derived fungus Alternaria tenuissima KM651985 which is able to produce lignocellulytic enzymes, has been subjected to extracellular biosynthesis of silver and copper nanoparticles (AgNps and CuNps). The biosynthesized nanoparticles were studied and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Our measurements have revealed the formation of spherical, well-dispersed silver nanoparticles with size ranging between 2 to 15 nm and maximum absorbance peak of 430 nm at optimum conditions of 4 mM AgNO3 solution incubated with fungal extract for 72h. Mixing fungal extract with 2 mM CuSO4. 5H(2)O for 72h was preferred for the biosynthesis of CuNps (particle size in range from 16-51 nm) with characteristic peak at 460 nm. The antimicrobial studies of biosynthesized nanoparticles display that AgNps and CuNps have attention opposing both classes of bacteria, fungi and yeasts but alongside disparate degree. From this study we have concluded that the marine-derived fungus Alternaria tenuissima KM651985 is a novel good candidate for biosynthesis of AgNps and CuNps. AgNPs showed strong antimicrobial activity as compared with CuNps and received considerable attention as antimicrobial additives that can be requested in health-related and manufacturing products.