Molecular insights into the antifungal activity of biosynthesized Ag-ZnO hybrid nanostructures against Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Biosynthesized Ag-ZnO nanohybrids were characterized by TEM, HRTEM, FESEM, EDX and Raman spectroscopy. Bullet-like ZnO nanostructures with a mean size - 48 nm were revealed by FESEM and TEM analyses, which were decorated with Ag nanoparticles with a mean size of - 18 nm. Raman analysis showed that nanohybrids consisted of hexagonal wurtzite ZnO. We next tested the impact of these Ag-ZnO hybrid nanostructures on growth of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. It was observed that these hybrid nanoparticles exhibited strong antifungal activity against Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and effectively inhibited S. pombe growth at 100 & mu;g/mL. To gain insights into the mechanism of action underlying the antifungal activity of these Ag-ZnO nanohybrids, various biochemical and molecular assays were carried out. Result of these assays revealed that treatment with the AgZnO nanohybrids resulted in accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in S. pombe. Moreover, DNA fragmentation, increased lipid peroxidation, and increased protein leakage were observed in Ag-ZnO nanohybrids treated S. pombe. Taken together, the antifungal action of nanohybrids of Ag-ZnO against S. pombe can mainly be attributed to ROS triggered oxidative stress, which further causes increased lipid peroxidation, and cell membrane damage resulting in protein leakage as well as DNA fragmentation.

Automated summary

Biosynthesized Ag-ZnO nanohybrids were characterized using various techniques and were found to have significant antifungal activity against Schizosaccharomyces pombe. It was discovered that the antifungal action of these nanohybrids is mainly due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which leads to oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and cell damage. These findings provide insights into the mechanism of action and potential applications of Ag-ZnO nanohybrids for antifungal purposes.