Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 18;9(2):133.
doi: 10.3390/jof9020133.

Trichoderma-Mediated ZnO Nanoparticles and Their Antibiofilm and Antibacterial Activities

Balagangadharaswamy Shobha  1 , Bagepalli Shivaram Ashwini  2 , Mohammed Ghazwani  3 , Umme Hani  3 , Banan Atwah  4 , Maryam S Alhumaidi  5 , Sumanth Basavaraju  1 , Srinivas Chowdappa  1 , Tekupalli Ravikiran  1 , Shadma Wahab  6 , Wasim Ahmad  7 , Thimappa Ramachandrappa Lakshmeesha  1 , Mohammad Azam Ansari  8
Affiliations

Trichoderma-Mediated ZnO Nanoparticles and Their Antibiofilm and Antibacterial Activities

Balagangadharaswamy Shobha et al. J Fungi (Basel). .

Erratum in

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global health concern and one of the gravest challenges to humanity today. Antibiotic resistance has been acquired by certain bacterial strains. As a result, new antibacterial drugs are urgently required to combat resistant microorganisms. Species of Trichoderma are known to produce a wide range of enzymes and secondary metabolites that can be exploited for the synthesis of nanoparticles. In the present study, Trichoderma asperellum was isolated from rhizosphere soil and used for the biosynthesis of ZnO NPs. To examine the antibacterial activity of ZnO NPs against human pathogens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were used. The obtained antibacterial results show that the biosynthesized ZnO NPs were efficient antibacterial agents against the pathogens E. coli and S. aureus, with an inhibition zone of 3-9 mm. The ZnO NPs were also effective in the prevention of S. aureus biofilm formation and adherence. The current work shows that the MIC dosages of ZnO NPs (25, 50, and 75 μg/mL) have effective antibacterial activity and antibiofilm action against S. aureus. As a result, ZnO NPs can be used as a part of combination therapy for drug-resistant S. aureus infections, where biofilm development is critical for disease progression.

Keywords: Trichoderma; ZnO nanoparticles; antimicrobial resistance; biofilm; green synthesis; myconanotechnology; nanofabrication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Characterization of biosynthesized ZnO NPs using T. asperellum: (a) UV—vis spectra; (b) FT-IR spectrogram; (c) PXRD patterns.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) High-magnification SEM image of ZnO NPs synthesized from T. asperellum: (b) energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) analysis; (c) TEM images of ZnO NPs synthesized from T. asperellum; and (d) SAED pattern of ZnO NPs synthesized from T. asperellum.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fluorescence microscopic images of (a) E. coli control, (b) E. coli treated with ZnO NPs at a concentration of 75 μg/mL, (c) S. aureus control, (d) S. aureus treated with ZnO NPs at a concentration of 75 μg/mL.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Crystal violet assay carried out to determine the antibiofilm activity of samples against S. aureus biofilms. (a) S. aureus forming a biofilm after 24 h of incubation in a microtiter well, (b) a well after crystal violet staining, (c) a control (tetracycline) well containing the crystal violet biofilm, and (d) a well with ZnO NPs (75 μg/mL) after decanting the crystal violet reduction of biofilms.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Antiadherence assay using tetracycline as positive control and S. aureus as growth control. The experiment was evaluated based on triplicate results with standard deviation (n = 3, p < 0.05). * Indicates a significant difference when compared to the negative control (NB only).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Antibiofilm assay using tetracycline as positive control and S. aureus as growth control. The experimental results were evaluated based on triplicate results with standard deviation (n = 3, p < 0.05). * Indicates a significant difference when compared to the negative control (NB only).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Micrographs of S. aureus biofilms. Adherence of S. aureus onto the coverslips; control (NB alone), tetracycline, and ZnO nanoparticles (75 μg/mL), as examined by CV staining.
Figure 8
Figure 8
SEM micrographs of biofilm mass: (a) zinc oxide nanoparticles attached to the S. aureus biofilm, (b) biofilm of S. aureus disturbed after 24 h of treatment with ZnO NPs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barreto-Santamaría A., Arévalo-Pinzón G., Patarroyo M.A., Patarroyo M.E. How to Combat Gram-Negative Bacteria Using Antimicrobial Peptides: A Challenge or an Unattainable Goal? Antibiotics. 2021;10:1499. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics10121499. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breijyeh Z., Jubeh B., Karaman R. Resistance of Gram-negative bacteria to current antibacterial agents and approaches to resolve it. Molecules. 2020;25:1340. doi: 10.3390/molecules25061340. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martinez J.E., Vargas A., Perez-Sanchez T., Encio I.J., Cabello-Olmo M., Barajas M. Human Microbiota Network: Unveiling Potential Crosstalk between the Different Microbiota Ecosystems and Their Role in Health and Disease. Nutrients. 2021;13:2905. doi: 10.3390/nu13092905. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Charbonneau M.R., Isabella V.M., Li N., Kurtz C.B. Developing a new class of engineered live bacterial therapeutics to treat human diseases. Nat. Commun. 2020;11:1738. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15508-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nataro J.P., Kaper J.B. Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 1998;11:142–201. - PMC - PubMed