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Characterization and expression analysis of genes encoding Taxol biosynthetic enzymes in Taxus spp.

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Abstract

Taxol (Paclitaxel), an important anticancer drug, is derived at very low yields from Taxus (yew) species that grow very slowly. In the present study, thirteen genes that encode enzymes involved in Taxol biosynthesis in Taxus spp. were analyzed with bioinformatics methods, and their expression levels in different tissues and after cold and hormone treatments were also analyzed. The results indicated that many cis-elements related to abiotic stresses and hormones were found in the promoter sequences of the 8 genes involved in Taxol biosynthesis. Moreover, the 13 enzymes encoded by the target genes were located in different organelles and had many phosphorylation sites in the response proteins. The 13 genes were expressed highly either in roots or in stems, with lower transcripts in needles, and they were highly expressed after treatment with cold, gibberellin, methyl jasmonate or coronatine, consistent with predictions based on the bioinformatics analysis. These results suggest that the factors such as hormones and abiotic stresses stimulate taxane biosynthesis in yews, providing an important way to sustainably generate taxanes from yew trees or their cell cultures to improve Taxol yields.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of State Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Bei**g, 100091, People’s Republic of China

    Luyuan Jiang, Kaikai Zhang, Yanfang Yang & Deyou Qiu

  2. College of Horticulture, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, People’s Republic of China

    Luyuan Jiang, Liying Yang & Duanfen Chen

  3. College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, People’s Republic of China

    **ng Lü

  4. School of Pharmacy, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252000, People’s Republic of China

    Shuai Wang

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  1. Luyuan Jiang
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  4. Liying Yang
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  7. Yanfang Yang
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  8. Deyou Qiu
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Contributions

YYF and QDY conceived and designed this study. YYF, JLY, ZKK, LX and YLY performed the experiments and analyzed the data, JLY and WS performed data collection and statistical analysis. CDF and QDY contributed suggestions. YYF, JLY, and ZKK wrote the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the paper.

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Correspondence to Yanfang Yang.

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Project funding: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570675), a Grant from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD060070605), and a Grant for National non-profit Research Institutions of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2018SY009).

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com.

Corresponding editor: Yanbo Hu.

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Jiang, L., Zhang, K., Lü, X. et al. Characterization and expression analysis of genes encoding Taxol biosynthetic enzymes in Taxus spp.. J. For. Res. 32, 2507–2515 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-021-01290-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-021-01290-3

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