Biosynthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles from fungal species and its antibacterial and anticancer effect

Silver nanoparticles have gained considerable importance in recent years due to their diverse medicinal activities. In the present study, we have explored filamentous fungi Penicillium italicum for the extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and evaluated its antibacterial and anticancer effects. The nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-Visible and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. UV-Visible spectra showed specific absorption peak at 422.67 nm which confirmed the presence of nanoparticles. FTIR spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of alcohols, phenols, alkenes, and amines that play major roles in stabilizing the synthesized AgNPs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed spherical shape of AgNPs with size ranges from 14.5 nm to 23.3 nm. Antibacterial studies against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus, and Escherichia coli through disc diffusion method revealed 20 mm (for 40 μg/ml) of inhibition of zone especially for S. enterica and exhibited excellent synergistic effect when combined with moxifloxacin and streptomycin. Further, in anticancer studies, these nanoparticles demonstrated good anticancer effect against HEp-2 cancer cell line with IC50 value at 30 μg/ml through MTT assay.