Centre for Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2013 Jan;97(2):859-69. doi: 10.1007/s00253-012-3934-2. Epub 2012 Mar 1.
Using natural processes as inspiration, the present study demonstrates a positive correlation between zinc metal tolerance ability of a soil fungus and its potential for the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. A total of 19 fungal cultures were isolated from the rhizospheric soils of plants naturally growing at a zinc mine area in India and identified on the genus, respectively the species level. Aspergillus aeneus isolate NJP12 has been shown to have a high zinc metal tolerance ability and a potential for extracellular synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles under ambient conditions. UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy studies further confirmed the crystallinity, morphology, and composition of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles. The results revealed the synthesis of spherical nanoparticles coated with protein molecules which served as stabilizing agents. Investigations on the role of fungal extracellular proteins in the synthesis of nanoparticles indicated that the process is nonenzymatic but involves amino acids present in the protein chains.
受自然过程的启发，本研究表明土壤真菌对锌金属的耐受能力与其合成氧化锌（ZnO）纳米粒子的潜力之间存在正相关关系。从印度一个锌矿区自然生长的植物的根际土壤中分离出了 19 种真菌培养物，并分别在属、种水平上进行了鉴定。从土壤中分离出的 NJP12 对锌金属具有很强的耐受性，在环境条件下具有胞外合成 ZnO 纳米粒子的潜力。紫外-可见光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱、X 射线衍射分析、透射电子显微镜和能量色散光谱研究进一步证实了合成 ZnO 纳米粒子的结晶度、形态和组成。结果表明，合成了球形纳米粒子，其表面覆盖有作为稳定剂的蛋白质分子。对真菌胞外蛋白在纳米粒子合成中的作用的研究表明，该过程是非酶促的，但涉及蛋白质链中存在的氨基酸。
