Effect of different carbon sources on morphology and silver accumulation in Cochliobolus lunatus

The morphology of filamentous fungi plays very important role in uptake of metabolites and enzyme production. A filamentous fungus may be fibrous, hyphae, pellets, clumps, etc. Cochliobolus lunatus is a fungus which has previously been reported for silver accumulation and nanoparticles formation. The present study investigated the role of various carbon sources on morphology, biochemical profile, silver accumulation, and biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by fungal strain C. lunatus. In this investigation, effect of different carbon sources was studied on morphology of C. lunatus and its silver accumulating ability. As a result of different carbon sources like carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), pectin, starch, agar, sucrose, and mannitol, the organism showed three kinds of morphologies like homogenous smooth branched clumps, tough short fibrous filaments, and tough pellets, as well as silver accumulating ability. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) studies showed maximum uptake of Ag(+): 87.44 ± 0.23 and 82.57 ± 0.19 % in pectin- and CMC-grown biomass, respectively. The crystalline nature of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs of silver nanoparticles confirmed size ranging from 5 to 38 nm.