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Inhibitory Effects of Sulfur Nanoparticles on Membrane Lipids of Aspergillus niger: A Novel Route of Fungistasis

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Abstract

Orthorhombic (spherical; ~10 nm) and monoclinic (cylindrical; ~50 nm) sulfur nanoparticles (SNPs) were synthesized and examined for their effects on the total lipid content and desaturase enzymes of Aspergillus niger. Synthesized SNPs were characterized for size with transmission electron microscopy, elemental composition with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and allotropic nature with X-ray diffraction pattern. Both the SNPs considerably reduced total lipid content of the treated fungal isolates with significant down regulation of the expression of various desaturase enzymes (linoleoyl-CoA desaturase, stearoyl-CoA 9-desaturase and phosphatidylcholine desaturase). Unusual high accumulation of saturated fatty acids with depleted lipid layer can be inferred as one of the major reasons of SNPs mediated fungistasis.

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Acknowledgments

The research was funded by NAIP-ICAR-World Bank (Comp-4/C3004/2008-09), ICAR-National Fund (NFBSFARA/GB-2019/2011-12) & Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India (BT/BIPP0439/11/10, BT/PR15217/NNT/28/506/2011, BT/PR9050/NNT/28/21/2007 & BT/PR8931/NNT/28/07/2007) and ISI plan project for 2008-2011 for their generous financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Sciences Division, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, 700108, India

    Samrat Roy Choudhury & Arunava Goswami

  2. Department of Chemical Technology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700009, India

    Mahua Ghosh

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  1. Samrat Roy Choudhury
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  2. Mahua Ghosh
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  3. Arunava Goswami
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Correspondence to Samrat Roy Choudhury.

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Roy Choudhury, S., Ghosh, M. & Goswami, A. Inhibitory Effects of Sulfur Nanoparticles on Membrane Lipids of Aspergillus niger: A Novel Route of Fungistasis. Curr Microbiol 65, 91–97 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0130-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0130-7

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