Psychrotrophic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica NCYC 789 mediates the synthesis of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles via cell-associated melanin

Smita Zinjarde,Ashok Bankar,Shital Gaikawad,Devashree Sambre,Swanand Joshi,Mugdha Apte,Ameeta Ravi Kumar

doi:10.1186/2191-0855-3-32

Abstract

A psychrotrophic marine strain of the ascomycetous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica (NCYC 789) synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in a cell-associated manner. These nanostructures were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) analysis. The brown pigment (melanin) involved in metal-interactions was obtained from the cells. This extracted pigment also mediated the synthesis of silver nanoparticles that were characterized by a variety of analytical techniques. The melanin-derived nanoparticles displayed antibiofilm activity. This paper thus reports the synthesis of AgNPs by the biotechnologically important yeast Y. lipolytica; proposes a possible mechanism involved in the synthetic process and describes the use of the bio-inspired nanoparticles as antibiofilm agents.

Highlights

It is a well established fact that nanoparticles of noble metals exhibit strong antimicrobial properties (Zhou et al 2012)
This paper describes the conditions for the synthesis of AgNPs and their characterization by a variety of analytical techniques
Visual observations and UV-Visible spectroscopic studies Y. lipolytica cells synthesized AgNPs when incubated with silver nitrate

Summary

Introduction

It is a well established fact that nanoparticles of noble metals (gold and silver) exhibit strong antimicrobial properties (Zhou et al 2012). An increase in the price of gold in the recent past has brought some restriction on the use of nanoparticles of this metal for antimicrobial applications. Antimicrobial activity of silver has been documented since a very long time. In the past few decades, the significance of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as antimicrobial agents has increased to a great extent (Rai et al 2009). AgNPs display higher surface to volume ratio and exhibit enhanced antimicrobial activity. AgNPs are extensively used in the field of medicine (Jain et al 2009; Ravindra et al 2010)

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Conclusion