Biogenic Nanoparticles Silver and Copper and Their Composites Derived from Marine Alga Ulva lactuca: Insight into the Characterizations, Antibacterial Activity, and Anti-Biofilm Formation

Ragaa A Hamouda; Mada A Alharthi; Amenah S Alotaibi; Asma Massad Alenzi; Doha A Albalawi; Rabab R Makharita

doi:10.3390/molecules28176324

Biogenic Nanoparticles Silver and Copper and Their Composites Derived from Marine Alga Ulva lactuca: Insight into the Characterizations, Antibacterial Activity, and Anti-Biofilm Formation

Molecules. 2023 Aug 29;28(17):6324. doi: 10.3390/molecules28176324.

Authors

Ragaa A Hamouda^{1

2}, Mada A Alharthi¹, Amenah S Alotaibi³, Asma Massad Alenzi³, Doha A Albalawi³, Rabab R Makharita^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Sciences and Arts Khulais, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt.
³ Genomic & Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.

Abstract

Bacterial pathogens cause pain and death, add significantly to the expense of healthcare globally, and pose a serious concern in many aspects of daily life. Additionally, they raise significant issues in other industries, including pharmaceuticals, clothing, and food packaging. Due to their unique properties, a great deal of attention has been given to biogenic metal nanoparticles, nanocomposites, and their applications against pathogenic bacteria. This study is focused on biogenic silver and copper nanoparticles and their composites (UL/Ag₂ O-NPS, Ul/CuO-NPs, and Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs) produced by the marine green alga Ulva lactuca. The characterization of biogenic nanoparticles UL/Ag₂ O-NPS and Ul/CuO-NPs and their composites Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs has been accomplished by FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDS, XRD, and the zeta potential. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) experiments were conducted to prove antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and anti-biofilm. The FTIR spectroscopy results indicate the exiting band at 1633 cm^-1, which represents N-H stretching in nanocomposites, with a small shift in both copper and silver nanoparticles, which is responsible for the bio-reduction of nanoparticles. The TEM image reveals that the Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs were hexagonal, and the size distribution ranged from 10 to 35 nm. Meanwhile, Ul/CuO-NPs are rod-shaped, whereas UL/Ag₂ O-NPS are spherical. The EDX analysis shows that Cu metal was present in a high weight percentage over Ag in the case of bio-Ag/Cu-NCMs. The X-ray diffraction denotes that Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs, UL/CuO-NPs, and UL/Ag₂ O-NPS were crystalline. The results predicted by the zeta potential demonstrate that Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs were more stable than Ul/CuO-NPs. The antibacterial activity of UL/Ag₂ O-NPS, Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs, and UL/CuO-NPs was studied against eleven Gram-negative and Gram-positive multidrug-resistant bacterial species. The maximum inhibition zones were obtained with UL/Ag₂ O-NPS, followed by Ul/Ag/Cu-NCMs and Ul/CuO-NPs in all the tested bacteria. The maximum anti-biofilm percentage formed by E. coli KY856933 was obtained with UL/Ag₂ O-NPS. These findings suggest that the synthesized nanoparticles might be a great alternative for use as an antibacterial agent against different multidrug-resistant bacterial strains.

Keywords: Ag nanoparticles; Ulva lactuca; antibacterial; copper nanoparticles; nanocomposites.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Biological Products*
Copper / pharmacology
Escherichia coli
Gram-Negative Bacteria
Gram-Positive Bacteria
Metal Nanoparticles*
Silver / pharmacology
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Ulva*

Substances

cupric oxide
Copper
Silver
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Biological Products

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.