PROCESS BIOCHEMISTRY, cilt.89, ss.208-219, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
In our study, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was carried out using a red algae Gelidium corneum extract as reducing agent. The obtained silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-vis, TEM, XRD, FTIR and ICP-MS measurements. FTIR measurements indicated the possible functional groups responsible for the stabilization and reduction of nanoparticles, while XRD analysis results explained the crystalline structure of the particles with centric cubic geometry. TEM micrographs showed that the size of the nanoparticles was between 20-50 nm. According to the broth microdilution test results, AgNPs showed a high antimicrobial activity with very low MIC values (0.51 mu g/ml for Candida albicans yeast and 0.26 mu g/ml for Escherichia coli bacteria). The different ultrastructural effects of silver nanoparticles on yeast and bacterial cells were observed by TEM. Antibiofilm efficacy studies were also examined in two stages as prebiofilm and postbiofilm effect. In prebiofilm effect studies, AgNPs (0.51 mu g/ml) exhibited 81% reducing effect on biofilm formation. The highest reduction rate in postbiofilm studies was 73.5% and this was achieved with 2.04 mu g/ml AgNPs. Our data support that the silver nanoparticles obtained by this environmentally friendly process have potential to be used for industrial and therapeutic purposes.