Actinomycetes as Nanofactories: Synthesis and Therapeutic Applications

In recent times, the use of nanomaterials has gained prominence in the fields of agriculture, biological science, electronics, and medicine owing to their numerous applications. Their unique characteristics, such as high surface/volume ratio, specific structures, and dimensions that are similar to those of biomolecules, provide special features for biomedical and therapeutic applications. It is well known that algae, bacteria, and fungi can take metals from their surroundings and transform them into elemental nanoparticles, which can then be accumulated or released. Actinomycetes, as green nanofactories, have been regarded as an emerging field for research to produce low-cost, high-quality approaches for producing sustainable useful products with numerous applications. The distinctiveness of biologically active actinomycetes has drawn the attention of experts all around the world to better understand their possibility as effective nanofactories. As a dominant microbial phylum, actinomycetes are helpful for the breakdown and transformation of organic and inorganic substrates and can also synthesize economically viable proteins, enzymes, and antibiotics. Antibiotics produced by these organisms have been utilized in almost every medical intervention and are now known to facilitate the production of nanoparticles with preferred surface and size attributes. Actinomycetes-derived nanoparticles have also been extensively studied for a wide range of applications related to biomedical sciences. This chapter provides an overview of the synthesis of nanomaterials from actinomycetes, characterization techniques, and various biomedical and therapeutic applications. In addition, the challenges pertaining to toxicity studies associated with the use and synthesis of biogenic metal nanoparticles are discussed.