The 12th International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences (ABS 2026)

Abstract: Antioxidant enzymes represent essential biological macromolecules efficiently removing or regulating dangerous and toxic reactive oxygen species that occur during aerobic metabolism in almost all cells. If ROS are not regulated or removed their accumulation can lead to oxidative stress with damaging consequences for the organisms. On the other hand, these efficient oxidoreductases represent a very attractive group of enzymes for focused research with many promising applications in the agriculture and various branches of biology. Our research is focused on systematic screening and discovery of natural antioxidant enzymes originating mainly in filamentous fungi and green algae. For this reason, we perform systematic genomic and transcriptomic screening in primeval forests of Carpathian region in middle Europe. Catalases, peroxidases, peroxygenases and superoxide dismutases are mostly large and rather fragile proteins that need to be protected for their efficient delivery to their biological target sites. Therefore, it is important to find strategies for their stable immobilization and/or encapsulation. We monitor the enzymatic activity and operational stability of selected enzymatic antioxidants after their immobilization in various nanoparticles and compare them with native enzymes. Our results shall suggest the best variants for application in various soils to promote productivity of diverse plants by protecting them from oxidative stress and allow environmental sustainability of applied nanobiotechnologies.