Focusing on the huge importance associated in developing functional materials, this research study describes the synthesis, characterization of morphology, bactericidal activity and cytotoxic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). IONPs have been successfully fabricated through thermal decomposition of a diiron(III) complex precursor. The morphology of the nanoparticle has been delineated with different spectroscopic and analytic methods. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (FE-SEM and HR-TEM) analyses estimate the cross linked porous structure of IONPs with an average size ~97 nm. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) study of IONPs determines the hydrodynamic diameter as 104 nm. The cytotoxic behavior of IONPs has been examined against human lung cancer cell line (A549) through different fluorescence staining studies which ensure the mode of apoptosis for cell death of A549. Furthermore, measurement of reactive oxygen species suggests the destruction of mitochondrial membrane of Staphylococcus aureus , leading to effective bactericidal propensity which holds a good promise for IONPs to become a clinically approved antibacterial agent.

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The present work demonstrates the heavy metal resistance and detoxification of Cr(VI) by the probiotic actinobacterial cultures isolated from chicken and goat feces. The actinobacterial isolates were screened for heavy metal resistance by qualitative, semiquantitative assays and Cr(VI) biosorption was determined by analytical techniques such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). All the tested actinobacterial isolates (n = 20) showed resistance toward K2Cr2O7, NiCl2, ZnCl2, CuSO4 and PbNO3 at 20 mg L−1 concentration. The maximum tolerance concentration values were found to be 200–250 mg L−1 for K2Cr2O7, 100–250 mg L−1 for PbNO3 and <50–250 mg L−1 for NiCl2, ZnCl2 and CuSO4. Among the five tested heavy metals, Cr(VI) was resisted by 95 % of the tested actinobacterial cultures up to 250 mg L−1 concentration; particularly, the isolate LD22 exhibited a high degree of tolerance to all the tested heavy metals. Thus, the isolate was justifiably chosen for Cr(VI) biosorption study and the biosorption efficacy was found maximum at 100 mg L−1 of metal ion concentration (3 g L−1 of biomass dosage and pH 7.0). FT-IR spectrum revealed the chemical interactions between the hydroxyl, amine and carboxyl groups of the biomass and the metal ions. On the basis of phenotypic, physiological, biochemical and molecular characteristics the isolate LD22 was identified as Streptomyces werraensis LD22 (JX524481) which could be used to develop a biosorbent for adsorbing Cr(VI) metal ions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-014-0237-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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