## 3 Results and Discussion
### Antibacterial Assay  
The latex of several medicinal plants has often been utilized due to their antibacterial activities [4; 6; 39], and coupled with the antibacterial properties of NPs, we would expect remarkable antibacterial activity for these synthesized AgNPs using latex. [PERSON] et al. [5] investigated the efficiency of AgNPs using latex from _Carica papaya_, which showed significant activity against _B. subtilis_, _Enterococcus faecalis_, _E. coli_, _Vibrio cholerae_, _Klebsiella pneumoniae_, and _Proteus mirabilis_. However, despite these significant results, there appears to be a lack of interest surrounding the synthesis and antibacterial applications of AgNPs synthesized using latex extracts. Thus, one of the aims of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of latex AgNPs using agar disc diffusion. The antibacterial activity of latex AgNPs was assessed against five pathogenic bacterial strains, three Gram-positive, namely, _B. subtilis_ (ATCC 6653), MRSA (ATCC 43300), and _S. aureus_ (ATCC 29213), and two Gram-negative bacterial strains, _E. coli_ (ATCC 25922) and _P. aeruginosa_ (ATCC 27853), using a range of concentrations (3.125 to 100 mg/mL) (Table 4). The results displayed in Table 4 and Figure 6 reveal that at the lowest concentrations (3.125 mg/mL), AgNPs synthesized using latex extracts displayed minimal antibacterial activity against MRSA (9.67 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), _S. aureus_ (9.00 \(\pm\) 1.00 mm), _E. coli_ (8.67 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), _P. aeruginosa_ (8.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 mm), and _B. subtilis_ (6.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), respectively. Whereas, at higher concentrations (100 mg/mL), effective antibacterial activity was observed against _E. coli_ (12.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 mm), _S. aureus_ (11.67 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), MRSA (11.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), _P. aeruginosa_ (11.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), and _B. subtilis_ (9.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm), respectively. It was noted that the increased concentrations of latex AgNPs influenced the zones of inhibition (inhibition of bacterial growth) progressively, similar results were reported by [PERSON] et al. [5]. Furthermore, the results showed a substantial difference between the inhibition of bacterial growth using antibiotics, which was much lower and ranged from 10.00 \(\pm\) 1.00 mm to 10.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 mm compared to the AgNPs synthesized using latex, which ranged from 10.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 mm to 12.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 mm, at the highest concentration (100 mg/mL). Overall, a prominent difference was noted (_p_ < 0.05) for bacterial strains _E. coli_, MRSA, and _S. aureus_ vs. _B. subtilis_, and all latex AgNP concentrations except 12.5 and 25 mg/mL. Silver nanoparticles are well-known as an effective antimicrobial agent since bacteria have a weak ability to develop resistance against silver ions [5]. Previous reports have indicated that Gram-positive bacteria are usually more resistant to AgNPs due to the presence of a peptidoglycan layer that often acts as a preventive barrier for NP entry [5], compared to Gram-negative bacteria, which lacks this special layer and contains a negatively charged surface area, which attracts Ag ions, thus are more susceptible to cell membrane damage by AgNPs [57]. Similar results were observed in the present study only for the Gram-negative bacteria _E. coli_ and Gram-positive bacteria _B. subtilis_ and MRSA, whereas the other bacterial  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{2}{*}{**Concentration (mg/mL)**}} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Bacterial Strains**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **BS** & **EC** & **MRSA** & **SA** & **PA** \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Latex AgNPs} & 3.125 & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 & 8.67 \(\pm\) 0.58 & 9.67 \(\pm\) 0.58 & 9.00 \(\pm\) 1.00 & 8.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 \\  & 6.25 & 7.00 \(  
strains were not consistent with previous studies [5; 57].