Investigation of antifungal and anti-mycelium activities using biogenic nanoparticles: An eco-friendly approach

Green chemistry approaches for synthesizing biogenic nanoparticles brings nanotechnology and microbial biotechnology towards the developments in the nano-biotechnology. Nano-biotechnology is extending diverse applications in bio-medical studies especially in the field of biosensors, electrochemical sensors, medicine, healthcare and agriculture. In this study, we aim to evaluate antifungal and anti-mycelium activities of biogenic Silver (Ag), Copper (Cu), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) against pathogenic fungi. Selected nanoparticles except Gold have shown acceptable susceptibility towards fungi including C. albicans MTCC 3017 and C. neoformans MTCC 1347. In all treatments, Amphotericin B (AMB) and Fluconazole antifungal drugs were considered as “gold standards”. Minimum inhibitory concentration of AgNPs, CuNPs as well as ZnONPs for non-spore forming fungi (C. albicans MTCC 3017 and C. neoformans MTCC 1347) were recorded at ≤ = 8 μg/ml and for spore forming fungi (A. niger MTCC 282 and F. oxysporum MTCC 284) at ≤16 μg/ml. Further, anti-mycelium studies were carried using standard amended nutrient agar method. Anti-mycelium effect of biogenic NPs was recorded towards A. niger MTCC 282 and F. oxysporum MTCC 284, showing the highest effect by AgNPs (72.8%) as compared to Cu, ZnONPs and standard antifungal drug. Thus, highlighting the biogenic nanoparticles as an alternative source for assessing antifungal and anti-mycelium activities.