Changes in gene transcription and taxane production in elicited cell cultures of Taxus × media and Taxus globosa.

The response of two Taxus cell systems to the action of cyclodextrin (CD) and coronatine (CORO), supplied to the culture medium either separately or together, was studied. Two-stage Taxus globosa and Taxus media cell cultures were established and the elicitors were added at the beginning of the second stage. Growth, taxane production, and the expression of known taxol biosynthetic genes, including the recently characterized CoA ligase gene, were studied. Although CORO reduced the growth capacity of both cell lines, CD apparently counteracted this negative effect. Taxane production was significantly enhanced by the simultaneous addition of CD and CORO to the medium. The total taxane production in the T. media cell line was more than double that of T. globosa, but in the latter more than 90% of the taxanes produced were excreted to the medium. Individual taxane patterns also differed: at the height of production, the main taxanes in T. globosa cultures were cephalomannine and 10-deacetyltaxol, and in T. media, taxol and baccatin III. The low transcript levels of taxane biosynthetic genes found in T. globosa cells mirrored the lower taxane production in these cultures, while a high expression was strongly correlated with a high taxane production in T. media.