BioAuNP

Development of an environment-friendly process for the production of gold nanoparticles and their use for biosensor signal amplification

Green industrial innovation programme
Project ID: HU09-0118-A2-2016


Project promoter: Fermentia Microbiological Ltd.
Project partners: BME-TTK, HBV, NAIK

Project summary:
There are several chemical and physical methods to produce AuNPs, but these have a high energy demand and can be harmful on the environment. On the other side, production of BioAuNPs by microorganisms can be considered a „green” process. During our project we have developed a process for synthesising of AuNPs by thermophilic fungi, and the following purification steps. The produced colloid solutions have been characterized by several analytical methods (UV-VIS spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)). The efficiency of the bioAuNPs was verified by the developed measurement method for the BSA – anti-BSA model molecule pair. Then with the application of bioAuNPs a highly sensitive, selective,  apid measurement procedure was elaborated on the detection of aflatoxin B1 mycotoxin from food samples. The process for QCM-I (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) was capable of detecting aflatoxin B1 from spiced paprika matrix in the concentration range of 2-100 ng/ml (IC 50 =65,6±0,005 ng/mL), with a detection limit of 1 ng/ml. The developed immunosensor for OWLS (Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscopy) system functioned successfully in the concentration range of 0,001-1,000 ng/mL (IC 50 0,035±0,005 ng/mL), whereas the sensitivity without AuNP was only 1,000-20,000 ng/mL, which is a remarkable improvement. Based on our results it can be confirmed, that the application of bioAuNPs is a potential alternative to chemically synthetised nanoparticles. Furthermore, sensitization of QCM-I and OWLS immunosensors with BioAuNPs resulted in a rapid and cheap method for the detection of aflatoxin B1 mycotoxin, more sensitive than other previously used methods.

Commemorative plaque: