Diatom: A potential bio-accumulator of gold

How Synthesis of Algal Nanoparticles Affects Cancer Therapy? - A Complete Review of the Literature

The necessity to engineer sustainable nanomaterials for the environment and human health has recently increased. Due to their abundance, fast growth, easy cultivation, biocompatibility and richness of secondary metabolites, algae are valuable biological source for the green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). The aim of this review is to demonstrate the feasibility of using algal-based NPs for cancer treatment. Blue-green, brown, red and green micro- and macro-algae are the most commonly participating algae in the green synthesis of NPs. In this process, many algal bioactive compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols, can catalyze the reduction of metal ions to NPs. In addition, many driving factors, including pH, temperature, duration, static conditions and substrate concentration, are involved to facilitate the green synthesis of algal-based NPs. Here, the biosynthesis, mechanisms and applications of algal-synthesized NPs in cancer therapy have been critically discussed. We also reviewed the effective role of algal synthesized NPs as anticancer treatment against human breast, colon and lung cancers and carcinoma.

Photonic Nano-/Microstructured Diatom Based Biosilica in Metal Modification and Removal-A Review

The siliceous exoskeletal shells of diatoms, commonly known as frustules, have drawn attention because of their photoluminescence property and high volume to surface area. Photonic biosilica can also enhance the plasmonic sensitivity of nanoparticles. Because of this, researchers have studied the effectiveness of various metal particles after combining with biosilica. Additionally, naturally occurring diatom-based biosilica has excellent adsorption and absorption capabilities, which have already been exploited for wastewater treatment. Moreover, the nanoporous, ultra-hydrophilic frustules can easily accumulate more molecules on their surfaces. As a consequence, it becomes easier to conjugate noble metals with silica, making them more stable and effective. The main focus of this review is to agglomerate the utility of biocompatible diatom frustules, which is a no-cost natural resource of biosilica, in metal modification and removal.

Prospects and environmental sustainability of phyconanotechnology: A review on algae-mediated metal nanoparticles synthesis and mechanism

In recent years, researchers have proven that the employment of natural green components in the biogenesis of nanoparticles from microalgae species is one of the ways to delight the global environment issues. The application of nanotechnology with the exploitation of phycochemical produced from algae species is known as 'phyconanotechnology'. The use of biological compounds by microalgae as reducing agents for the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles has shown promising results such as cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Different classifications of algae such as brown algae, red algae, green algae, and cyanobacteria are studied for the synthesis of different types of metal nanoparticles. It is also an important motive to acknowledge the mechanisms of the microalgae-mediated biosynthesis of nanoparticles via an intracellular pathway or extracellular pathway. Besides, microalgae species as biogenic sources preclude the use of conventional methods reagents, such as sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), which further consolidates their position as the best choice for sustainable (economically and environmentally) nanoparticle synthesis compared to the conventional nanoparticles synthesis pathway.

Reducing Efficiency of Fucoxanthin in Diatom Mediated Biofabrication of Gold Nanoparticles

In the present investigation, fucoxanthin—one of the major pigments in diatoms—has been extracted from Nanofrustulum shiloi SZCZM1342, and its reducing efficiency in the biogenesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) was checked. Fucoxanthin extracted from golden-brown cells of N. shiloi was compared to the healthy, growing biomass of N. shiloi and standard fucoxanthin after separate exposure to 25 mg L⁻¹ aqueous hydrogen tetrachloroaurate solutions at room temperature. Isolated and standard fucoxanthin were found to be able to reduce gold ions within 12 h whereas, the whole biomass turned pink in color after 72 h of reaction. The synthesized particles were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). UV–vis spectroscopy of purple-colored suspensions showed the absorption band at approximately 520–545 nm, indicating a strong positive signal for GNP synthesis. The SEM study revealed the deposition of GNPs on siliceous frustules of metal-treated diatom cells. The TEM analysis confirmed the GNPs synthesized by whole biomass are triangular, spherical and hexagonal in nature, whereas the particles produced by extracted and standard fucoxanthin are all spherical in nature. This study demonstrates the involvement of fucoxanthin in the reduction of gold ions and subsequent production of gold nanospheres.

Myconanotechnology in veterinary sector: Status quo and future perspectives

Nanotechnology is no longer a concept or a theory of the new world, it has turned into a new enabling technology over the years, with tremendous potential to revolutionize agriculture and livestock sector all over the globe. Moreover, nanotechnology provides new tools for molecular and cellular biology, biotechnology, veterinary physiology and reproduction, giving more promising solutions in both pathogen detection and therapy, engineering of agriculture, incredible results in animal and food systems and many more. Nanotechnology means manipulation, reduction and synthesis of materials at nano scale. Nanoparticles have distinct unique morphological characteristics which are quite different from their original bulk form. Recently, nanoparticles have been produced by industries for commercial applications having huge benefits. Since nanotechnology serves various fields of science and technology, the fabrication of nanoparticles using the biological route is becoming the need of the day. Biosynthesis of nanoparticles attracts the attentions of many researchers and industries to study microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae and others as perfect biological factories for the fabrication of different nanoparticles. Among the different bionanofactories, the fungal system has emerged as an efficient most suitable system synthesizing metal nanoparticles by different mechanisms and for many reasons mentioned later. This review highlights the term “Myconanotechnology” in an attempt to direct more attention on fungi as a potential effective green approach in nanotechnology through conducting a SWOT analysis consisting of strengths, weaknesses, future opportunities of myconanosynthesis and probable constraints through eliciting questions for the possibility of using them in a large scale production.

Recent progress of algae and blue-green algae-assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles for various applications

The hazardous effects of current nanoparticle synthesis methods have steered researchers to focus on the development of newer environmentally friendly and green methods for synthesizing nanoparticles using nontoxic chemicals. The development of environmentally friendly methods of nanoparticle synthesis with different sizes and shapes is one of the pressing challenges for the current nanotechnology. Several novel green approaches for the synthesis of AuNPs have been explored using different natural sources, such as plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi. Among organisms, algae and blue-green algae are of particular interest for nanoparticle synthesis. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have a range of applications in medicine, diagnostics, catalysis, and sensors because of their significant key roles in important fields. AuNPs have attracted a significant interest for use in a variety of applications. The widespread use of AuNPs can be accredited to a combination of optical, physical, and chemical properties as well as the miscellany of size, shape, and surface composition that has been adopted through green synthesis methods.

Algal production of nano-silver and gold: Their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities: A review

The spreading of infectious diseases and the increase in incidence of drug resistance among pathogens have made the search for new antimicrobials inevitable, similarly is the cancer disease. Nowadays, there is a growing need for biosynthesized nanoparticles (NPs) as they are one of the most promising and novel therapeutic agents of biological origin. The unique physicochemical properties of the nano silver (Ag-NPs) as well as nano gold (Au-NPs) when combined with the growth inhibitory capacity against microbes lead to an upsurge in the research on NPs and their potential application as antimicrobials. The phytochemicals of marine algae that include hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amino functional groups can serve as effective metal reducing agents and as capping agents to provide a robust coating on the metal NPs. The biosynthesis of Ag-NPs and Au-NPs using green resources is a simple, environmentally friendly, pollutant-free and low-cost approach. The biosynthesized NPs using algae exerted an outstanding antimicrobial and cytotoxic effect.

Biogenic Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Scenedesmus abundans and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Activity

Silver nanoparticle (AgNP) was synthesized using the cell free extract of Scenedesmus abundans with AgNO3. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Photoluminescence. Bioreduction of Ag+ ions showed a gradual change in the colour of the extract and nanoparticles were synthesized having the range of 420–440 nm under UV-visible spectrum. The antibacterial efficacy was assessed against pathogenic bacteria E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Aeromonas hydrophila. The present study revealed that the AgNPs prepared from Scenedesmus abundans show antibacterial efficacy against the test pathogens. The bioaccumulation of silver particles makes the organism potential candidate for ecofriendly silver biorecovery system and S. abundans can be used as a source of silver nanoparticles.

Use of Bacteria and Microalgae in Synthesis of Nanoparticles

A critical need in the field of nanotechnology is the development of a reliable and eco-friendly process for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. A number of different organisms, including bacteria, microalgae, yeast and fungi, have shown their ability to produce metal nanoparticles. But they have some drawbacks in providing better control over size distribution, shape and crystallinity. This review article presents an overview of microorganisms (bacteria and microalga) capable of producing silver and gold nanoparticles. This article is an extended abstract of a communication presented at the Conference Ecological Chemistry 2012.

BIOSYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES USING THE ALGA Kappaphycus alvarezii

As a part of our ongoing investigation into the use of algae for gold nanoparticle synthesis, we screened the marine alga Kappaphycus alvarezii, to investigate its efficiency to reduce gold ions as well as the formation of gold nanoparticles. In the present work, we report the reaction condition of the alga K. alvarezii with aqueous gold ions for gold nanoparticle synthesis within the biomass extracellularly. The formation of gold nanoparticles was characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. Moreover, we have found that the reaction of gold ions with the K. alvarezii biomass under stationary conditions results in the rapid extracellular formation of gold nanoparticles of spherical morphology. The gold nanoparticles are not toxic to the cells that continued to grow after the biosynthesis of the gold nanoparticles.