Harnessing pycnidia-forming fungi for eco-friendly nanoparticle production, applications, and limitations
- Author: mycolabadmin
- 7/31/2025
- View Source
Summary
Certain types of fungi can produce tiny metal particles called nanoparticles that have useful properties. These fungi-made nanoparticles can kill bacteria, fight cancer cells, clean pollutants from water and soil, and be used in medicines and agriculture. Unlike traditional chemical methods for making nanoparticles, using fungi is cleaner and safer for the environment, though scientists still need to understand more about how they work and ensure they are safe to use widely.
Background
Nanotechnology has diverse applications in medicine, agriculture, environment, and catalysis. Pycnidial fungi, including Phoma, Phyllosticta, Phomopsis, Macrophomina, and Botryosphaeria, represent a novel biological approach for nanoparticle synthesis as an eco-friendly alternative to chemical and physical methods.
Objective
This review examines the role of pycnidial fungi in synthesizing various nanoparticles, explores the underlying mechanisms of synthesis, and highlights their significant applications in medicine, environment, industry, and agriculture while discussing critical challenges and limitations.
Results
Various pycnidial fungi genera synthesize silver and gold nanoparticles with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and catalytic properties. The synthesis involves extracellular secretion of reducing metabolites and enzymes that reduce metal ions and stabilize nanoparticles through nucleation and capping mechanisms.
Conclusion
Pycnidial fungi offer promising eco-friendly nanoparticle production with diverse biomedical, environmental, and industrial applications. However, precise molecular mechanisms require further exploration, and critical challenges in scalability, reproducibility, stability, and toxicity assessment must be addressed before commercial deployment.
- Published in:Frontiers in Microbiology,
- Study Type:Review,
- Source: PMC12352327; PMID: 40822388