Harnessing Pycnidia-forming Fungi for Eco-Friendly Nanoparticle Production, Applications, and Limitations

Mahendra Rai^1,2*Aniket Gade^3,4*Beata Zimowska⁵Sudhir Shende³José Milton Elias De Matos²PRAMOD INGLE⁶Patrycja Golinska³Joanna Trzcińska-Wencel³

• ¹Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, AMRAVATI, India
• ²Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Piauí, Brazil
• ³Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland
• ⁴Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• ⁵University of Life Sciences of Lublin, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
• ⁶Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati, Maharashtra, India

Nanotechnology is pivotal in various fields, including medicine, agriculture, environment, and catalysis. The synthesis of nanomaterials, typically within the 1-100 nm range, can be achieved through physical, chemical, and biological methods. Mycosynthesis, a biological approach, involves using fungi for nanoparticle (NP) synthesis. Several members of the order Pycnidial fungi have recently been reassigned to families such as Didymellaceae, Mycosphaerellaceae, Botryosphaeriaceae, and Diaporthaceae. Pycnidial fungi, including Phoma, Phyllosticta, Phomopsis, Macrophomina, and Botryosphaeria, have been reported to mainly synthesize silver and gold nanoparticlesNPs, with Phoma being the most extensively studied genus. In the present review, keen attention is given to the mechanism of nanoparticle NP synthesis using different members of pycnidial group. The mechanism proceeds through the preparation of a cell-free extract, followed by its treatment with metal precursor salts in the solution. The synthesis of silver or gold nanoparticles NPs occurs via the process of reduction of metal ions into respective nanoparticles NPs by various secondary metabolites present in the fungal secretions. This review focuses on the role of pycnidial fungi in synthesizing various nanoparticlesNPs, explores the underlying mechanisms, and highlights their significant applications in medicine, the environment, industry, and agriculture. The nanoparticles NPs synthesized from pycnidial fungi are multiplexed for various applications like antimicrobial agents, free radical scavengers, hallmarks for DNA disintegration in cancerous cells, as a potential drug delivery system, as a catalyst, and many more. Although there are several reports on documenting the role of pycnidial fungi in nanoparticle NP synthesis, but still a precise mechanism of nanoparticle NP synthesis at the molecular level is needs to be unraveled before considering their commercial use as a microbial factory for the synthesis of biogenic nanoparticlesNPs. In addition, critical challenges in nanoparticle NP synthesis by Pycnidial fungi are discussed.