Significant improvement of taxane production in suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis by combining elicitation with sucrose feed

The effects of elicitation and its combination with sucrose feed on the cel l growth and accumulation of taxane diterpene - taxuyunnanine C (Tc) in sus pension cultures of Taxus chinensis were investigated in shake flasks. The Tc accumulation was enhanced by elicitation of methyl jasmonate (MJA) or di hydro-methyl jasmonate (HMJA), and addition of 100 ELM MJA or HMJA at day 7 could increase the Tc content to 21.9 +/- 0.8 and 15.8 +/- 1.8 mg (g DW)(- 1), respectively, without any inhibitory effects on the cell growth. The ac tivity of a key enzyme - taxadiene synthase was greatly increased after eli citation. The Tc production was further enhanced by combining elicitation w ith sucrose feed, and a very high production titer of 527 +/- 17 mg l(-1) w as achieved on day 15 when elicitation (using 100 muM MJA) was combined wit h sucrose feed (20 g l(-1)) on day 7. The taxane production titer obtained in this work was the highest as ever reported. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.