AucoreAgshell nanoparticles with potent antibiofilm activity as novel nanomedicine

Medicinal plants serve as a rich source of diverse bioactive phytochemicals that might even take part in bioreduction and stabilization of phytogenic nanoparticles with immense therapeutic properties. Dioscorea bulbifera is a potent medicinal plant used in both Indian and Chinese traditional medicine owing to its rich phytochemical diversity. Herein, we report the rapid synthesis of novel AucoreAgshell DBTE). AucoreAgshell NPs synthesis was completed within 5 hours showing a prominent peak at 540 nm. The bioreduced nanoparticles were characterized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The particles were further checked for antibiofilm activity against bacterial pathogens. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to study the mechanism behind antibiofilm activity. HRTEM analysis revealed 9 nm inner core of elemental gold covered by a silver shell giving a total particle diameter up to 15 nm. AucoreAgshell NPs were comprised of 57.34±1.01% gold and 42.66±0.97% silver of the total mass. AucoreAgshell NPs showed highest biofilm inhibition up to 83.68±0.09% against Acinetobacter baumannii. Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were inhibited up to 18.93±1.94%, 22.33±0.56% and 30.70±1.33%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirmed unregulated cellular efflux through pore formation leading to cell death. This is the first report of synthesis, characterization, antibiofilm and antileishmanial activity of AucoreAgshell NPs synthesized by D. bulbifera.