Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity

Santos, Tárcio S.; Silva, Tarcisio M.; Cardoso, Juliana C.; Albuquerque-Júnior, Ricardo L. C. de; Zielinska, Aleksandra; Souto, Eliana B.; Severino, Patrícia; Mendonça, Marcelo da Costa

doi:10.3390/antibiotics10070852

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Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity

by

Tárcio S. Santos

^1,2,

Tarcisio M. Silva

^1,2

,

Juliana C. Cardoso

^1,2,

Ricardo L. C. de Albuquerque-Júnior

^1,2,

Aleksandra Zielinska

^3,4

,

Eliana B. Souto

^3,5,*,

Patrícia Severino

^1,2

and

Marcelo da Costa Mendonça

^1,2,6,*

¹

University of Tiradentes (Unit), Av. Murilo Dantas, Aracaju 49010-390, Brazil

²

Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology Laboratory (LNMed), Institute of Technology and Research (ITP), Av. Murilo Dantas, Aracaju 49010-390, Brazil

³

Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal

⁴

Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 60-479 Poznan, Poland

⁵

CEB—Centre of Biological Engineering, Campus de Gualtar, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal

⁶

Sergipe Agricultural Development Company (Emdagro), Av. Carlos Rodrigues da Cruz s/n, Aracaju 49081-015, Brazil

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Antibiotics 2021, 10(7), 852; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070852

Submission received: 5 June 2021 / Revised: 1 July 2021 / Accepted: 12 July 2021 / Published: 13 July 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic-Free Antibacterial Strategies Enabled by Nanomaterials)

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Abstract

Silver nanoparticles are widely used in the biomedical and agri-food fields due to their versatility. The use of biological methods for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles has increased considerably due to their feasibility and high biocompatibility. In general, microorganisms have been widely explored for the production of silver nanoparticles for several applications. The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of entomopathogenic fungi for the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles, in comparison to the use of other filamentous fungi, and the possibility of using these nanoparticles as antimicrobial agents and for the control of insect pests. In addition, the in vitro methods commonly used to assess the toxicity of these materials are discussed. Several species of filamentous fungi are known to have the ability to form silver nanoparticles, but few studies have been conducted on the potential of entomopathogenic fungi to produce these materials. The investigation of the toxicity of silver nanoparticles is usually carried out in vitro through cytotoxicity/genotoxicity analyses, using well-established methodologies, such as MTT and comet assays, respectively. The use of silver nanoparticles obtained through entomopathogenic fungi against insects is mainly focused on mosquitoes that transmit diseases to humans, with satisfactory results regarding mortality estimates. Entomopathogenic fungi can be employed in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles for potential use in insect control, but there is a need to expand studies on toxicity so to enable their use also in insect control in agriculture.

Keywords: entomopathogenic fungi; silver nanoparticles; biological synthesis; anti-microbials; insect control

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MDPI and ACS Style

Santos, T.S.; Silva, T.M.; Cardoso, J.C.; Albuquerque-Júnior, R.L.C.d.; Zielinska, A.; Souto, E.B.; Severino, P.; Mendonça, M.d.C. Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity. Antibiotics 2021, 10, 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070852

AMA Style

Santos TS, Silva TM, Cardoso JC, Albuquerque-Júnior RLCd, Zielinska A, Souto EB, Severino P, Mendonça MdC. Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity. Antibiotics. 2021; 10(7):852. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070852

Chicago/Turabian Style

Santos, Tárcio S., Tarcisio M. Silva, Juliana C. Cardoso, Ricardo L. C. de Albuquerque-Júnior, Aleksandra Zielinska, Eliana B. Souto, Patrícia Severino, and Marcelo da Costa Mendonça. 2021. "Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity" Antibiotics 10, no. 7: 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070852

APA Style

Santos, T. S., Silva, T. M., Cardoso, J. C., Albuquerque-Júnior, R. L. C. d., Zielinska, A., Souto, E. B., Severino, P., & Mendonça, M. d. C. (2021). Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity. Antibiotics, 10(7), 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070852

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Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by Entomopathogenic Fungi: Antimicrobial Resistance, Nanopesticides, and Toxicity

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