Nanomaterials and microbes’ interactions: a contemporary overview

Abstract

Use of nanomaterials in the field of science and technology includes different fields in food industry, medicine, agriculture and cosmetics. Nanoparticle-based sensors have wide range of applications in food industry for identification and detection of chemical contaminants, pathogenic bacteria, toxins and fungal toxins from food materials with high specificity and sensitivity. Nanoparticle-microbe interactions play a significant role in disease treatment in the form of antimicrobial agents. The inhibitory mechanism of nanoparticles against different bacteria and fungi includes release of metal ions that interacts with cellular components through various pathways including reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, pore formation in cell membranes, cell wall damage, DNA damage, and cell cycle arrest and ultimately inhibits the growth of cells. Nanoparticle-based therapies are growing to study the therapeutic treatments of plant diseases and to prevent the growth of phytopathogens leading to the growing utilization of engineered nanomaterials. Hence, with this background, the present review focuses thoroughly on detailed actions and responses of nanomaterials against different bacteria and fungi as well as food sensing and storage.

In Vivo-In Vitro Comparative Toxicology of Cadmium Sulphide Quantum Dots in the Model Organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae

“…CdS QDs’ response, and more generally the response to ENMs, has been thoroughly investigated across different species, from bacteria to human [42,43,52,53]. The results obtained clearly showed how CdS QDs triggered unique response mechanisms (e.g., the response to abiotic stimuli and cellular compartment organization), when acompared with those related to the Cd 2+ ion alone.…”

Zinc-Based Nanomaterials for Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases: Ecological Safety and Future Prospects

“…The antimicrobial effect of metal/metal oxide, metalloid, and nonmetal nanomaterials on the test pathogens have been reported to be size and dose dependent [ 26 , 47 , 48 ]. Further, substantially low concentrations of nanomaterials are required to achieve significantly improved antimicrobial efficacy as compared to the standard reference antimicrobial agent (such as antibiotics and pesticides) [ 8 , 49 ].…”

“…The use of nanomaterials for control of phytopathogens has been envisioned by agriscientists after the evidence for -static to -cidal properties of various types of nanomaterials that appeared for human/livestock pathogens in journals of repute of biomedicine or pharmacology [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Amenability to fabrication/alteration of size and surface morphology and functionalization of nanomaterials is of tremendous significance considering the quick and sustainable eradication of pesticide-resistant phytopathogens [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Recent Advances in (Bio)Chemical Sensors for Food Safety and Quality Based on Silver Nanomaterials

“…A large number of original scientific papers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), as well as review articles (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) regarding food quality and/or food safety topics have been recently reported, providing a broad survey trough the field of nanomaterial-based sensing platforms. In most of the publications, nanogold stands out above other metallic nanoparticles (20,21) and, although nanosilver-based devices are very abundant in the literature, a systematic review of food sensors based on silver nanoparticles hasn't been conducted (22)(23)(24). In the light of this, the authors considered the need to summarize selected examples of exclusively nanosilver-based (bio)chemical sensors for the detection of compounds concerning food safety and food quality.…”