Successful project closure – BioAuNP

A comprehensive on-site inspection was carried out by the Executive Agency of NFFKÜ Zrt. and the Program Operator at Szent István University at Fermentia Kft. The necessary examination of the financial and professional aspects of our project: “Development of an environmen​t-friendly process for the production of gold nanoparticles and their use for biosensor signal amplification” – BioAuNP, HU09-0118-A2-2016 funded by Norway Grants – was conducted. The auditing experts have also learned about the work of the consortium and the research processes, successes and achievements of recent years from lectures by experts from BME, OKI and Fermentia Kft.

We are delighted that the results of our work have been considered by the professional reviewers as forward-looking. We are confident that the Consortium, which has been created for the project, will be able to collaborate in further successful research beyond the continuation of BioAuNP.

“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, rapid 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 (IC50=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 (IC50 0,035±0,005 ng/mL), whereas the sensitivity without AuNP was only 1,000-20,000 ng/mL, which is a remarkable improvement.”