Soraya Mohammadzadeh - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
Nasrin Ahmadpour - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
Vahab Jafarian - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
Bahram Amini - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

Today, various pollutants such as metallic, organic, phenolic and petroleum compounds are increasing in the environment. Therefore, it is essential to serve as a strategy for decomposing and decontaminating of these compounds. One of the important methods of detoxification is to use of microbial enzymes. The catechol 2, 3 dioxygenase is one of the important enzymes for the decomposition of phenolic compounds. In the present study, the results of expression and purification of the catechol 2, 3 dioxygenase were determined by SDSPAGE. Silica nanoparticles were synthesized and their size and shape were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The enzyme was stabilized on the surface of silica nanoparticles by EDC and NHS linkers at concentrations of 5 μg mL-1.Then, the activity of both stabilized and the non-stabilized enzyme was determined at 375 nm by spectrophotometry and compared with each other. The results showed that the size of the silica nanoparticles was 85-93 nm. The activity of stabilized catechol 2, 3 dioxygenase was approximately 2 to 2.2 times more than that of the non-stabilized enzyme

Catechol 2, 3 dioxygenase, Enzyme immobilization, Silica nanoparticles