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The tremendous worldwide efforts to isolate novel mosquito larvicidal bacteria with improved efficacy present significant promise to control vector-borne diseases of public health importance. In the present study, two native bacterial isolates, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt SV2) and Serratia species (SV6) were evaluated for mosquito larvicidal potential against the early fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, and Culex quinquefasciatus with reference to B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) H 14. The native Gram-positive, spore-forming Bt SV2 isolate showed 100% mortality against early fourth instars of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, and Culex quinquefasciatus, in parallel to Bti H14 strain. After 24 h, Bt SV2 showed 98%, 89%, and 80.67%, and Bti H14 showed 92%, 98.33%, and 60% mortality against Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, and Culex quinquefasciatus, respectively. Serratia SV6 showed highest activity against Culex quinquefasciatus (100%) followed by Anopheles stephensi (95%) and Aedes aegypti (91%) after 48 h of exposure. The Gram-negative Serratia SV6 showed delayed toxicity compared to Bti H14 and Bt SV2 against early fourth instars of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, and Culex quinquefasciatus. The relative mortality of all treatments after 12-h exposures showed the varied toxicity with respect to exposure time, bacterial treatment, and mosquito species. Genetic relatedness of the strains was confirmed on the basis of phylogenetic reconstructions based on alignment of 16S rRNA gene sequences which indicated a strong clustering of the strain SV2 with B. thuringiensis and the strain SV6 with Serratia nematodiphila. In conclusion, the native isolate B. thuringiensis SV2 showed significant toxicity while Serratia SV6 showed less and delayed toxicity against several mosquito species compared with BtiH14. They may be used as novel bacterial insecticidal agents in mosquito vector-borne disease control. To our knowledge, this is the first report on mosquito larvicidal potential of Serratia species.

Microbial control agents offer alternatives to chemical pest control as they can be more selective than chemical insecticides. The present study evaluates the mosquito larvicidal potential of microbial pigment prodigiosin produced by Serratia marcescens NMCC46 against Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi. The pigment of S. marcescens NMCC46 was extracted after 24 h from mannitol containing nutrient broth media. The effects of crude extracted pigment on the growth, survival, development, and other life cycle aspects were studied. The LC(50) and LC(90) values of second, third, and fourth instars of A. aegypti (LC(50) = 41.65, 139.51, 103.95; LC(90) = 117.81, 213.68, 367.82) and A. stephensi (LC(50) = 51.12, 105.52, 133.07; LC(90) = 134.81, 204.45, 285.35) were determined. At higher concentration (500 ppm), mortality starts within first 6 h of exposure. More than 50% mortality occurs within the first 24 h. The overall observed effects against A. aegypti and A. stephensi larvae after 48 h were increasing percent survival larvae, survival pupation, adult emergence with decreasing crude pigment extract concentration. These ensure that the resultant mosquito population reduction is substantial even where the larvicidal potential is minimal. The UV (λ (max) = 536 nm), TLC (Rf = 0.9), HPLC, and FTIR analysis of crude pigment shows the presence of prodigiosin as active compound. Thus, the active compound produced by this species would be more useful against vectors responsible for diseases of public health importance. This is the first report on mosquito larvicidal activity of prodigiosin produced by Serratia species.

In a search for natural products that could be used to control the vectors of tropical diseases, extracts of medicinal plants Plumbago zeylanica and Cestrum nocturnum have been tested for larvicidal activity against second, third, and fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. The LC(50) values of all the extracts in different solvents of both the plants were less than 50 ppm (15.40-38.50 ppm) against all tested larval instars. Plant extracts also affected the life cycle of A. aegypti by inhibition of pupal development and adult emergence with increasing concentrations. The larvicidal stability of the extracts at five constant temperatures (19°C, 22°C, 25°C, 28°C, and 31°C) evaluated against fourth instar larvae revealed that toxicity of both plant extracts increases with increase in temperature. Toxicity studies carried out against fish species Poecilia reticulata, the most common nontarget organism in the habitats of A. aegypti, showed almost nil to meager toxicity at LC(50) and LC(90) doses of the plant extracts. The qualitative analysis of crude extracts of P. Zeylanica and C. nocturnum revealed the presence of bioactive phytochemicals with predominance of plumbagin in P. zeylanica and saponins in C. nocturnum. Partially purified plumbagin from P. zeylanica and saponins from C. nocturnum were obtained, and their presence was confirmed by thin-layer chromatography and biochemical tests. The bioassay experiment of partially purified secondary metabolites showed potent mosquito larvicidal activity against the fourth instar larval form. Therefore, this study explored the safer and effective potential of plant extracts against vector responsible for diseases of public health importance.

Nanoparticles have emerged as a promising analytical tool for monitoring food adulteration and safety. In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using leaves' extract of Jatropha gossypifolia. AgNPs revealed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak at 419 nm and have spherical and grain shape with size range between 18 and 30 nm. A selective and rapid method of melamine detection in raw milk was developed with the use of these biofunctionalized AgNPs. The color change, deviation in SPR spectra, and change in the absorption ratio (A500 /A419 ) of AgNPs occurred after an AgNPs-melamine interaction. The detection limit for melamine up to 2 μM (252 ppb) was attained with this method, which is quite lower than safety level recommendations of regulatory bodies demonstrating sensitivity of the method. Dynamicx light scattering and transmission electron microscopy analyses exhibited an increase in hydrodynamic diameter and size of AgNPs after melamine interaction. Melamine sensing by AgNPs was investigated by different physicochemical and thermal analyses.

In the present study, stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were fabricated at a rapid rate from leaf extract of medicinally important plant Alstonia macrophylla. Biosynthesized AgNPs are of spherical shape and narrow size (70 nm), exhibiting a surface plasmon resonance peak at 435 nm, and a zeta potential of -30.8 mV and have a crystalline nature. A diverse biochemical consortium of protein, terpenoids, phenolics, and flavonoids in leaf extract of A. macrophylla was found to be responsible for AgNP synthesis as evidenced from qualitative-quantitative chemical analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. Nitroaromatic compounds are anthropogenic pollutants with long-lasting environmental persistence and are needed to transform into less toxic derivatives. 4-Nitrophenol and p-nitroaniline were reduced to less hazardous and commercially useful 4-aminophenol and p-phenylenediamine by phytosynthesized AgNPs. Rate constants of 0.052 and 0.040 Min(-1) were calculated for 4-nitrophenol and p-nitroaniline reduction, respectively. Thin-layer chromatography also confirms the reduction of these nitroaromatic compounds. Combinational studies could be one of the strategies to overcome microbial resistance to antibiotics. In synergistic antibacterial assay, the highest increase in a fold area of 3.84 was reported against Staphylococcus aureus using a combination of AgNPs with penicillin. Biosynthesized AgNPs were found to be less toxic (LC50 = 9.13 ppm) than chemically synthesized AgNPs having a LC50 value of 2.86 ppm against nontarget fish Poecillia reticulata. Our green nanosynthesis method offers a faster rate of formation of stable AgNPs having antibacterial and catalytic potential with lower environmental toxicity.

In present study, the bioactivity of latex-producing plant Pergularia daemia as well as synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against the larval instars of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi mosquito larvae was determined. The range of concentrations of plant latex (1,000, 500, 250, 125, 62.25, and 31.25 ppm) and AgNPs (10, 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.625, and 0.3125 ppm) were prepared. The LC(50) and LC(90) values for first, second, third, and fourth instars of synthesized AgNPs-treated first, second, third, and fourth instars of A. aegypti (LC(50) = 4.39, 5.12, 5.66, 6.18; LC(90) = 9.90, 11.13, 12.40, 12.95 ppm) and A. stephensi (LC(50) = 4.41, 5.35, 5.91, 6.47; LC(90) = 10.10, 12.04, 13.05, 14.08 ppm) were found many fold lower than crude latex-treated A. aegypti (LC(50) = 55.13, 58.81, 75.66, 94.31; LC(90) = 113.00, 118.25, 156.95, 175.71 ppm) and A. stephensi (LC(50) = 81.47, 92.09, 96.07, 101.31; LC(90) = 159.51, 175.97, 180.67, 190.42 ppm). The AgNPs did not exhibit any noticeable effects on Poecillia reticulata after either 24 or 48 h of exposure at their LC(50) and LC(90) values against fourth-instar larvae of A. aegypti and A. stephensi. The UV-visible analysis shows absorbance for AgNPs at 520 nm. TEM reveals spherical shape of synthesized AgNPs. Particle size analysis revealed that the size of particles ranges from 44 to 255 nm with average size of 123.50 nm. AgNPs were clearly negatively charged (zeta potential -27.4 mV). This is the first report on mosquito larvicidal activity P. daemia-synthesized AgNPs.

In the present study activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized using Plumeria rubra plant latex against second and fourth larval instar of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi was determined. Range of concentrations of synthesized AgNps (10, 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.625, 0.3125 ppm) and aqueous crude latex (1,000, 500, 250, 125, 62.50, 31.25 ppm) were tested against larvae of A. aegypti and A. Stephensi. The synthesized AgNps from P. rubra latex were highly toxic than crude latex extract in both mosquito species. The LC(50) values for second and fourth larval instars after 24 h of crude latex exposure were 1.49, 1.82 ppm against A. aegypti and 1.10, 1.74 ppm against A. stephensi respectively. These figures were 181.67, 287.49 ppm against A. aegypti and 143.69, 170.58 ppm against A. stephensi respectively for crude latex extract. The mortality rates were positively correlated with the concentration of AgNPs. The characterization studies of synthesized AgNPs by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Particle size analysis (PSA) and zeta potential confirmed the spherical shape and size (32-200 nm) of silver nanoparticles along with stability. Toxicity studies carried out against non-target fish species Poecilia reticulata, the most common organism in the habitats of A. aegypti and A. stephensi showed no toxicity at LC(50) and LC(90) doses of the AgNPs. This is the first report on mosquito larvicidal activity of latex synthesized nanoparticles.

Larvicides play a vital role in controlling mosquitoes in their breeding sites. The present study was carried out to establish the larvicidal activities of mycosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against vectors: Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi responsible for diseases of public health importance. The AgNPs synthesized by filamentous fungus Cochliobolus lunatus, characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The characterization studies confirmed the spherical shape and size (3-21 nm) of silver nanoparticles. The efficacy of mycosynthesized AgNPs at all the tested concentrations (10, 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.625, and 0.3125 ppm) against second, third, and fourth instar larvae of A. aegypti (LC(50) 1.29, 1.48, and 1.58; LC(90) 3.08, 3.33, and 3.41 ppm) and against A. stephensi (LC(50) 1.17, 1.30, and 1.41; LC(90) 2.99, 3.13, and 3.29 ppm) were observed, respectively. The mortality rates were positively correlated with the concentration of AgNPs. Significant (P 0.05) changes in the larval mortality was also recorded between the period of exposure against fourth instar larvae of A. aegypti and A. stephensi. The possible larvicidal activity may be due to penetration of nanoparticles through membrane. Toxicity studies carried out against non-target fish species Poecilia reticulata, the most common organism in the habitats of A. aegypti and A. stephensi showed no toxicity at LC50 and LC90 doses of the AgNPs. This is the first report on mosquito larvicidal activity of mycosynthesized nanoparticles. Thus, the use of fungus C. lunatus to synthesize silver nanoparticles is a rapid, eco-friendly, and a single-step approach and the AgNps formed can be potential mosquito larvicidal agents.

Different biopolymers, agar, cellulose, alginate, psyllium gaur gum, and bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS) powders were amended to check their efficacy in enhancing maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), permanent wilting point (PWP), and germination and seedling growth of the Gossypium herbaceum in a laboratory scale. The efficacy of all biopolymers for enhancement of MWHC, PWP, and growth was also analyzed by measuring organic carbon, organic matter, total nitrogen, respiration rate, and microflora in amended and control sandy loams. The range of concentrations (0.2–2%) of all biopolymers was incorporated in sandy loam containing pots. The soil without polymer was considered as control. The psyllium (0.6%) and bacterial EPS (1%) amended soil has 242 and 233% increase in MWHC and thus delaying in the permanent wilting point by 108 and 84 h at 37 °C, respectively, as compared to control. All biopolymers found to increase more or less MWHC, organic matter, total nitrogen, microflora, and PWP as compared to control. The psyllium and bacterial EPS show the highest increase organic matter, biomass, and microflora. The highest reduction in MWHC after 12 weeks were observed in cellulose, gaur gum, and alginate; besides, psyllium, bacterial EPS, and agar showed comparatively less reduction MWHC, i.e., 24% and 14.5%, respectively. The toxicity studies of biopolymer were carried out on earthworm (Eisenia foetida). It revealed their nontoxic nature. The biopolymer amendment in sandy loam can be an effective strategy to improved soil texture, fertility, and thereby crop yield.