Biosynthesis of selenium nanoparticles by Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans and comparison of their effects with antifungal drugs

Abstract

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles can stand as a replacement for the available chemical and physical methods by offering new procedures as green syntheses that have proved to be simple, biocompatible, safe, and cost-effective. Considering how nanoparticles with a size of 1 to 100 nanometers contain unique physical and chemical properties, recent reports are indicative of observing the antifungal qualities of selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs). Recently, the observance of antifungal resistance towards different species of these fungi is often reported. Therefore, due to the antifungal effects of biological nanoparticles, this study aimed to investigate the exertion of these nanoparticles and evaluate their effects on the growth of fungal pathogens. Se-NPs were biosynthesized by the application of wet reduction method, which included specific concentrations of Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans. The presence of nanoparticles was confirmed by methods such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR analysis, and FESEM electron microscope that involved FESEM and EDAX diagram. The fungal strains were cultured in sabouraud dextrose agar medium to perform the sensitivity test based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method in duplicate. The utilization of Se-NPs at concentrations of 1 µg/ ml and below resulted in zero growth of fungal agents. However, their growth was inhibited by antifungal drugs at concentrations of 2 µg/ ml and higher. Based on the obtained results, biological nanoparticles produced by fungal agents at different concentrations exhibited favorable inhibitory effects on the growth of fungal strains.

Effect of biosynthesized selenium nanoparticles using Nepeta extract against multidrug‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii

“…The biosynthesized NPs can be a suitable alternative to antimicrobial drugs in the future to deal with bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral infections. Even in the difficult situation of the current SARSCoV-2 pandemic, researchers are forced to think more about the biomedical (diagnostic and therapeutic) applications of NPs [68,69].…”

Nano‐Biofortification of Zinc in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Crops

“…Histochemical Detection and Quantification of Superoxide Ion (O 2 − ) and Hydrogen Peroxide (H 2 O 2 ): The histochemical detection was performed by the method suggested by Ramel et al [34] and Thordal-Christensen et al [83] To visually assess superoxide anion levels, leaves were excised and immersed in 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer at pH 6.4 containing 0.1% w/v nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) and 10 mM sodium azide, for 12 h in the dark. Leaves were then incubated in acetic acid-glycerol-ethanol in 1:1:3 v/v/v at 100°C for 15 min.…”

Green synthesis of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) nanosheets and investigation of their photocatalytic and cytotoxicity effects

“…The allocation of these peaks was based on the reported data [79]. The detected peaks at 3446 cm −1 were related to the tensile vibrations of O─H adsorbed water molecules, while the peaks at 1568 cm −1 were associated with the flexural vibrations of absorbed O─H from water [14]. The appearance of the hydroxyl group of tungsten strips (W─OH) at 1566 and 1400 cm −1 was attributed to the vibration of the tungsten-hydroxyl bond (W─OH) [80], which exhibited a strong band in the range of 800-600 cm −1 for W─O─W bridging model [81].…”

“…Photocatalysis is a new method for the treatment of air and water pollutants [10,11]. For many years, the process of photocatalysts has been considered a solution for environmental obstacles throughout industrialised countries due to its beneficial features such as anti-pollution, purifying, antimicrobial [12][13][14], self-cleaning etc. Currently, the exertion of novel and envi-ronmentally friendly synthesising methods for the preparation of nanomaterials led to a widespread focus on the participation of "green chemistry" in nanoscience and nanotechnology [15][16][17][18].…”