Preliminary screening of endophytic fungi hosted some wild plants in North Sinai for biogenic production of silver nanoparticles

Abstract

The biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles offers a promising alternative to traditional physical and chemical methods due to its inherent simplicity, nontoxic nature, and environmental friendliness. Within this study, endophytic fungi hosted six wild plants in Arish City, North Sinai, Egypt have been isolated by surface sterilization technique on different isolation media. Twelve species, based on their frequency of occurrence, out of thirty recovered taxa were tested for their capability to synthesize extracellular AgNPs. Aspergillus terreus (OQ119631) and Aspergillus flavus (OQ119633) recovered from Hyoscyamus muticus and Zygophyllum album respectively were found to be the best candidate for the production of mycogenic AgNPs among all examined species. Mycogenic AgNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy for both taxa. The synthesized silver nanoparticles demonstrated antimicrobial efficacy against various pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Additionally, their cytotoxicity was assessed against the human normal fibroblast cell line (BJ) using a cell viability assay. The results revealed substantial growth inhibition with IC50 concentration of 100 µg/mL, indicating effectiveness against diseased cells while maintaining relative safety towards healthy cells. This underscores the potential of eco-friendly AgNPs produced by native endophytic fungi for targeted cytotoxicity.