Bio-inspired facile fabrication of silver nanoparticles from in vitro grown shoots of Tamarix nilotica: explication of its potential in impeding growth and biofilms of Listeria monocytogenes and assessment of wound healing ability

Novel, safe, and effective antilisterial agents are required in order to prevent Listeria monocytogenes infections and maintain food safety. This study synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from the shoot extract of in vitro-grown Tamarix nilotica (TN) and characterized them using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We also assessed the antilisterial potential of the synthesized TN-AgNPs by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against two strains of L. monocytogenes and L. innocua. TN-AgNPs (2×MICs) showed a significant decrease in growth in all Listeria test strains. Release of cellular content and cell morphology analysis of TN-AgNP-treated bacterial cells demonstrated the mechanism of bactericidal activity of AgNPs. In addition, TN-AgNPs induced a significant decrease in swimming motility (62–71%), biofilm formation (57–64%), and preformed biofilms (48–58%) in all Listeria test strains at sub-inhibitory concentrations. Microtitre plate assay results for biofilm inhibition were confirmed by SEM and CLSM visualization of TN-AgNP-treated and TN-AgNP-untreated Listeria test strains. TN-AgNPs also showed wound-healing activity in MCF-7 cells by inhibiting cell migration in a scratch plate assay. TN-AgNP-induced enhanced reactive oxygen species generation in treated cells could be a plausible reason for the biofilm inhibitory activity of AgNPs. TN-AgNPs having antilisterial, antibiofilm, and wound-healing properties can be effectively used to prevent L. monocytogenes infections in the food industry and healthcare.