In Vitro Insight on Antifungal-Specific Potentiality of Ni(II) Complex against Colletotrichum siamense and Fusarium equisetum Phytopathogens.

In an initiation to investigate a prospective bioactive compound, a mononuclear Ni(II) complex with N, N, and O donor Schiff base ligand was synthesized and characterized in the present study through FTIR, ESI-mass, and X-ray crystallographic diffraction studies. A slightly distorted octahedral geometry has been obtained for the Ni(II) complex from X-ray crystallographic diffraction studies. In vitro comprehensive biological studies show the antifungal specific efficiency of the complex against Colletotrichum siamense (AP1) and Fusarium equisetum (F.E.) pathogens, which are responsible for anthracnose and wilt disease, respectively, but no inhibitory effect on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for these pathogens was observed to be 0.25 and 0.5 mM, respectively. The experiment also reveals that significant damage of mycelia and enlarged, misshaped damaged spores are noticed in comparison to hexaconazole, used as a positive control under a light microscope post 48 h treatment of AP1 and F.E. with the MIC of the complex. The binding interaction studies of the complex with DNA and BSA performed through a variety of spectroscopic techniques demonstrate a strong binding behavior of the complex for both the binding systems. The observed negative Δ H ° and Δ S ° values for DNA reveal the existence of hydrogen-bonding/van der Waals interactions for DNA which was also exemplified from the molecular docking and self-assembly studies of the complex. The positive Δ H ° and Δ S ° values for BSA demonstrate the hydrophobic interactions of the complex with BSA. However, cytotoxicity studies against the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line did not demonstrate any significant potentiality of the complex as an anticancer agent. All the bio-experimental studies provide clear evidence that the synthesized Ni(II) complex exhibits potential antifungal activity and could be used as a therapeutic fungicide agent in comparison to hexaconazole in agricultural practices.