Myco-fabrication of Silver Nanoparticles from Endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum Ehrenb. ex Schlecht: A Novel Approach for Sustainable Plant Disease Management

Resistance against fungicides or antibiotics in plant pathogens is nowadays a greater challenge to the scientific community, as most of the pathogenic strains survive unless treated with anti-agents.Therefore, there is a need to develop sustainable approaches that could manage the diseases in plants.Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have received attention due to their eco-friendly fabrication methods and interesting antimicrobial properties.This study reported the myco-fabrication of AgNPs by a novel biogenic approach using an extract of endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum Ehrenb.ex Schlecht isolated from Dioscorea bulbifera (L.) leaves.The primary detection was done visually and by UV-Vis spectrophotometric analysis.The color change in the reaction solution from pale yellow to brown indicated the formation of myco-AgNPs.The UV-Vis spectral analysis revealed a typical surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at 447 nm.Nanoparticle tracking and analysis (NTA) demonstrated a mean size of 51 nm with a standard deviation (SD) of 22 nm and a concentration of 5.4 × 10 9 particles/mL.The zeta potential value was found to be -8.70 mV.FTIR spectroscopy revealed the presence of functional groups, stabilizing the myco-AgNPs that corresponded to the proteins from the fungal extract.TEM analysis showed spherical-shaped AgNPs with an average size range of 20-30 nm.The results suggest that the endophytic fungal extract is capable of synthesizing myco-AgNPs.The synthesized myco-AgNPs could be used in the formulation of novel nano-products for sustainable disease management of agricultural crops.