Nanoparticles have taken over the medicine and agri-food industry due to their ability to kill plant pathogens and reduce the use of fertilizers in agriculture. They have unique properties due to their ratio of surface to volume that resulted when the microscale material was broken down into nano sizes.
Nanoparticles such as micelles, liposomes, and dendrimers can be organic or inorganic, like metals and semi-metals. They can also be obtained chemically or physically, although biological synthesis has recently attracted interest in nanotechnology.
Potential of Fungi for Nanoparticle Synthesis
In nanotechnology, the use of biological agents has received extensive attention since they do not require toxic chemicals to reduce and stabilize nanoparticles. In other words, using microorganisms to synthesize nanoparticles offers a green and sustainable alternative to conventional approaches.
It is recognized that some microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, can make inorganic nanoparticles such as silicon, gold, silver, and lead, among others. Fungi have attracted more attention due to their toleration and metal bioaccumulation capability. They have several advantages over bacteria, such as their ability to grow in various environmental conditions. Fungi scale-up is also easy, allowing them to be utilized in nanoparticle synthesis.
Unlike other microorganisms, fungi have the advantage of producing various metabolites during the synthesis of nanoparticles. Many of the substances they produce also reduce silver ions into nanosilver. Fungi are also very effective in secreting enzymes that make nanoparticles intra- or extracellular. Furthermore, they can produce metal nanoparticles and nanostructures through biomimetic mineralization.
Development of Nanocomposites
Biosynthesis by microorganisms, algae, and plants has been the focus of biologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. They conducted a study on mycosynthesis, or the use of fungi in the synthesis of nanoparticles.
Led by Professor Mahendra Rai from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University in India, the research team synthesized silver nanoparticles using Fusarium, a genus of fungi that infect plants like cereals, but also from other genera such as Penicillium, which develop tangerines and lemons.
Prof. Rai and his team dealt with the development of nanocomposites based on pullulan and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which can be used to fight various microorganisms. As a natural biodegradable polymer, pullulan was biosynthesized using fungi (Aureobasidium pullulans) and combined with silver nanoparticles created by mold fungi under green synthesis.
The team designed films like thin and flexible foils that are encrusted with silver nanoparticles. The films were tested in terms of their ability to destroy pathogens responsible for wound infections and those affecting the shelf life of food.
It was found that pullulan combined with silver nanoparticles is beneficial and can be used in producing food packaging or wound dressings with fast healing properties. In more extensive wounds such as burns, the skin is highly exposed to microbial infection, so securing the wounds with a biodegradable polymer containing a pathogen-inhibiting agent can effectively accelerate wound healing.
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