Increased Production of Taxoids in Suspension Cultures of Taxus globosa after Elicitation

The objectives of this study were to investigate whether elicitors induce the production of taxoids in Taxus globosa by testing the hypothesis that the cells induce a greater accumulation of taxoids depending on the type and concentration of the elicitor treatment tested. Cell cultures were initiated from Taxus globosa friable calli for producing taxoids using the Gamborg medium supplemented with different initial combinations of growth regulators as follows: naphthaleneacetic acid, benzylaminopurine, picloram, and polyvinylpyrrolidone. The cell suspension cultures were then used for evaluating taxoid production through different elicitor treatments, such as methyl jasmonate, ethanol, buthionine sulphoximine, and hydrogen peroxide. The cell suspension cultures showing the best growth characteristics were found in the medium supplemented with 10.74 mu M of naphthaleneacetic acid and 3.33 mu M of picloram. The highest biomass for the cell cultures was obtained in the EtOH-2 treatment (0.12 +/- 0.005 mg<middle dot>g(-1) of dry weight) after 8 days, while the biomass in the control treatment at that time was 0.095 +/- 0.2 mg<middle dot>g(-1) of dry weight. The exogenous application of a combination of elicitors buthionine and hydrogen peroxide in the cell suspension cultures significantly increased the concentration of the 10-deacetylbaccatin (1662 mu g<middle dot>g(-1) of dry weight), cephalomannine (334.32 mu g<middle dot>g(-1) of dry weight), and the production of taxol (157.0 mu g<middle dot>g(-1) of dry weight).