Over the past several years, numerous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using engineered nanoparticles as antifungals, especially against those fungal pathogens that produce mycotoxins and infect plants, animals, and humans. The high dosage of nanoparticles has been a concern in such antifungal applications due to the potential toxicological and ecotoxicological impacts. To address such concerns, we have recently introduced the idea of inhibiting mycotoxin biosynthesis using low doses of engineered nanoparticles. At such low doses these particles are minimally toxic to humans and the environment. From our studies we realize that for the effective use of nanotechnology to intervene in the biology of fungal pathogens and for an accurate evaluation of the impacts of the increasingly growing nanomaterials in the environment on fungi and their interacting biotic partners, there is a pressing need for a rigorous understanding of nano-fungal interactions, which is currently far from complete. In this minireview, we build on the available evidence from nano-bio interaction research and our recent interaction studies with Aspergillus cells and engineered silver nanoparticles to introduce a potential theoretical model for nano-fungal interactions. The aim of the proposed model is to provide an initial insight on how nanoparticle uptake and their transformation inside fungal cells, possibly influence the production of mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi .

中文翻译：

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限制霉菌毒素而不杀死生产者：纳米真菌相互作用的新范例。

在过去的几年中，大量研究证明了使用工程化的纳米颗粒作为抗真菌剂的可行性，尤其是针对那些产生霉菌毒素并感染植物，动物和人类的真菌病原体。由于这种潜在的毒理学和生态毒理学影响，在这种抗真菌应用中，高剂量的纳米粒子一直是人们关注的问题。为了解决这些问题，我们最近引入了使用低剂量工程纳米颗粒抑制霉菌毒素生物合成的想法。在如此低的剂量下，这些颗粒对人类和环境的毒性最小。从我们的研究中我们认识到，为了有效地利用纳米技术干预真菌病原体的生物学，并准确评估环境中不断增长的纳米材料对真菌及其相互作用的生物伴侣的影响，迫切需要对纳米真菌相互作用的严格理解，目前还远远不够。在此小型审查中，我们基于纳米生物相互作用研究以及我们最近与曲霉细胞和工程银纳米颗粒的相互作用研究中获得的证据，为纳米真菌相互作用引入潜在的理论模型。提出的模型的目的是为真菌细胞内纳米颗粒的吸收及其转化提供初步的见识，