Influence of elicitors on taxane production and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity in Taxus media cells

The present study examined and compared the influence of elicitation with arachidonic acid, methyl jasmonate and vanadyl sulfate on the accumulation of paclitaxel and related taxanes in a cell suspension of Taxus media. The yields of baccatin III, 10-deacetylpaclitaxel and paclitaxel were significantly increased in the presence of methyl jasmonate (up to 3-fold, 5-fold and 12-fold, 'respectively), whereas those of 10-deacetylbaccatin III and cephalomannine were significantly increased in the presence of vanadyl sulfate (up to 40-fold) and arachidonic acid (up to 4-fold), respectively. The production of these taxanes was not only affected by the nature of the elicitor tested but also by the growth stage of the cells. At the same time, although the elicitors caused a considerable decrease in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR; EC 1.1.1.34) activity, we found that this decrease did not affect taxane accumulation. (C) 2003 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.