Extracellular biosynthesis of bactericidal Ag/AgCl nanoparticles for crop protection using the fungus Macrophomina phaseolina.

Synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles using natural products and living organisms has drawn a lot of interest owing to economic prospects and potential applicability in different fields. For this work we used the exudate of the soil fungus Macrophomina phaseolina for a low-cost method of green synthesis to obtain stable silver-silver chloride nanoparticles (Ag/AgCl-NPs). Reaction parameters including media and AgNO3 concentration were further optimized for NPs production. Spectral analysis revealed a peak at 420 nm that corresponds to the surface plasmon resonance of silver NPs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis unveiled NPs spherical morphology with a size range of 5-30 nm. The crystalline nature of the synthesized NPs was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The green synthesized NPs showed activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. No effect in fungi or yeast cells was detected, though a high inhibitory effect was observed on bacteria growth kinetics. Interaction of bacteria with Ag/AgCl-NPs led to cell membrane damage as observed by SEM, followed by an increase in oxidative stress, being this the possible mechanism behind the strong bactericidal activity depicted. In order to test its possible applicability as a seed protection agent the effect of Ag/AgCl-NPs dosage on soybean (Glycine max L.) seed's germination was also examined. Interestingly, not only the germination process was not affected by the NPs dosage or time of seeds incubation, but also no oxidative damage was detected in seeds after exposure to the biogenic nanoparticles.