Development of Biotechnology for Microbial Synthesis of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles

Several bacterial strains of Actinomycetes belonging to Streptomyces and Arthrobacter genera for the first time were used to study the biotechnology of synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles. The experimental conditions of gold and silver nanoparticles production by the cells of studied strains in aqueous chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) and in silver nitrate (AgNO3) solutions, respectively, were determined. Concentration and time-dependences of nanoparticle formation were investigated. The complex of optical and analytical methods was used for testing the gold and silver nanoparticles in the bacterial biomass. The TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-ray Diffraction) data in all cases demonstrated the presence of crystals with fcc (face centered cubic) structure. The results obtained show that the Actinomycetes are capable of producing gold and silver nanoparticles of spherical shape extracellularly when exposed to suitable compounds. The particle size distribution shows that the sizes of nanoparticles are in the range of 5 nm to 80 nm. The biomass obtained may be used for industrial as well as medical and pharmaceutical purposes.