Taxol,an anticancer drug produced by an endophytic fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bartalinia robillardoides</Emphasis> Tassi,isolated from a medicinal plant, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegle marmelos</Emphasis> Correa ex Roxb.

Taxol is an important anticancer drug widely used in the clinic. An endophytic fungus Bartalinia robillardoides (strain AMB-9) was isolated from Aegle marmelos, a medicinal plant and screened for taxol production. The fungus was identified based on the morphology of the fungal culture and the characteristics of the spores. This fungus was grown in MID liquid medium and analyzed chromatographically and spectrometrically, for the presence of Taxol. The amount of taxol produced by this endophytic fungus was quantified by HPLC. It produced 187.6 μg/L of taxol which suggests that the fungus can serve as a potential material for genetic engineering to improve the production of Taxol. This fungal taxol isolated from the organic extract of this fungal culture, has strong cytotoxic activity towards BT 220, H116, Int 407, HL 251 and HLK 210 human cancer cells in vitro, tested by Apoptotic assay.     

Production of Taxol from Phyllosticta spinarum,an endophytic fungus of Cupressus sp.

Taxol production during the cultivation on a modified liquid and potato dextrose broth medium was indicated for the first time to occur in Phyllosticta spinarum, an endophytic fungus isolated from the needles of Cupressus sp. The presence of taxol in the fungal culture filtrate was confirmed by chromatographic and spectroscopic methods of analysis. The amount of taxol produced by this fungus was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography. The maximum amount of taxol production was obtained in this fungus when grown on M1D medium (235 μg/L) followed by PDB medium (125 μg/L). The results indicate that P. spinarum is an excellent candidate for taxol production . The production rate was 4.7 × 10³‐fold higher than that found in the culture broth of an earlier reported fungus, Taxomyces andreanae. The fungal taxol extracted also showed a strong cytotoxic activity in the in vitro culture of human cancer cells tested in an apoptotic assay.     

Isolation and identification of an anticancer drug,taxol from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phyllosticta tabernaemontanae</Emphasis>, a leaf spot fungus of an angiosperm, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Wrightia tinctoria</Emphasis>

Phyllosticta tabernaemontanae, a leaf spot fungus isolated from the diseased leaves of Wrightia tinctoria, showed the production of taxol, an anticancer drug, on modified liquid medium (MID) and potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium in culture for the first time. The presence of taxol was confirmed by spectroscopic and chromatographic methods of analysis. The amount of taxol produced by this fungus was quantified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The maximum amount of taxol production was recorded in the fungus grown on MID medium (461 μg/L) followed by PDB medium (150 μg/L). The production rate was increased to 9.2 × 10³ fold than that found in the culture broth of earlier reported fungus, Taxomyces andreanae. The results designate that P. tabernaemontanae is an excellent candidate for taxol production. The fungal taxol extracted also showed a strong cytotoxic activity in the in vitro culture of tested human cancer cells by apoptotic assay.     

Production of taxol from Phyllosticta dioscoreae, a leaf spot fungus isolated from Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Taxol is a highly functionalized anticancer drug widely used in hospitals and clinics. The leaf spot fungus, Phyllosticta dioscoreae was isolated from diseased leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and screened for extracellular production of taxol in M1D (Modified liquid medium) and PDB (Potato dextrose broth) medium for the first time. The fungus was identified by its morphological and conidial features in the culture growth. The presence of taxol in the fungal culture filtrate was confirmed by different spectroscopic and chromatographic analyses. The amount of taxol produced was quantified by HPLC. The maximum amount of taxol produced was found to be 298 μg/L in M1D medium. Production rate was 5.96 × 10³ times faster than that found in culture broth of earlier reported fungus, Taxomyces andreanae. The extracted fungal taxol also showed strong cytotoxic activity in vitro in the cultures of human cancer cells tested by apoptotic assay. The results indicate that P. dioscoreae is an excellent source of taxol production, which suggests that the fungus has potential to undergo genetic engineering in order to improve its production level.     

Taxol Determination from Pestalotiopsis pauciseta, a Fungal Endophyte of a Medicinal Plant

Taxol is the most effective antitumor agent developed in the past three decades. It has been used for effective treatment of a variety of cancers. A taxol-producing endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis pauciseta (strain CHP-11) was isolated from the leaves of Cardiospermum helicacabum and screened for taxol production. The fungus was identified based on the morphology of the fungal culture and the characteristics of the spores and screened for taxol production. The amount of taxol produced by this endophytic fungus was quantified by HPLC and it produced 113.3 mg/L, thus the fungus can serve as a potential material for fungus engineering to improve taxol production. This fungal taxol also had strong anticancer activity against some cancer cells viz., BT 220, H116, Int 407, HL 251 and HLK 210 tested by Apoptotic assay and it is indicated that with the increase of taxol concentration from 0.005–0.05 mmol/L, taxol induced increased cell death through apoptosis.     

In vitro screening of taxol,an anticancer drug produced by the fungus,Colletotrichum capsici

The fungus Colletotrichum capsici was isolated from the diseased fruits of Chilli plant, Capsicum annuum. The isolated test fungus was identified by its morphological and molecular characteristic features. For the first time, the fungus was screened for the production of taxol on modified liquid medium. The presence of taxol was confirmed by the spectroscopic and chromatographic methods of analyses. The amount of taxol produced by this fungus was quantified by HPLC. The maximum amount of fungal taxol production was recorded as 687 μg/L. The production rate was 13 740‐fold higher than that, previously reported for the fungus Taxomyces andreanae. The extracted fungal taxol showed a strong cytotoxic activity in an in vitro culture of human cancer cells indicating that the increase in taxol concentration induces increased cell death. A PCR‐based screening for taxadiene synthase (ts), a unique gene in the formation of the taxane skeleton, confirmed the molecular blueprint for taxol biosynthesis. The results show that the fungus C. capsici is an excellent candidate for an alternate source of taxol supply and can serve as a potential species for genetic engineering to enhance the production of taxol to a higher level.     

Protoplast Mutation and Genome Shuffling Induce the Endophytic Fungus Tubercularia sp. TF5 to Produce New Compounds

Tubercularia sp. TF5 is an endophytic fungal strain isolated from the medicinal plant Taxus mairei. Previously, taxol has been detected in the fermentation products of this strain. However, it lost the capability of producing taxol after long-term laboratory culture. Herein, we tried to reactivate the production of taxol by protoplast mutations and genome shuffling. The protoplasts of Tub. sp. TF5 were prepared from its mycelia, and mutated by UV and NTG. The mutant strains regenerated from the mutated protoplasts were selected and classified into four groups on the basis of their phenotypes, the profile of their metabolites analyzed by TLC, MS, and bioassay data. Then, genome shuffling was subsequently carried out with eight mutant strains, with two representatives from each protoplast mutant group, and genome shuffling mutant strains were obtained and screened using the same screening procedure. Although taxol has not been detected in any mutant, two important mutants, M-741 and G-444 were selected for metabolites isolation and determination due to their phenotypes, and differences in TLC analysis result from TF5 and other mutants. Three new sesquiterpenoids, namely tuberculariols A–C (1–3), and a known dihydroisocoumarin (4) were obtained from M-741. Eighteen novel compounds were isolated from G-444, including five new sesquiterpenoids (5-9), two new dihydroisocoumarins (10, 11), one new tetralone (12), together with 10 known compounds (13–20, 1, and 2). The compounds isolated from the M-741 and G-444 were different in structure types and substitutions from those of TF5 (15, 21–29). The results showed, for the first time, that protoplast mutations and genome shuffling are efficient approaches to mining natural products from endophytic fungi. Understanding the mechanisms of unlocking the biosynthesis of new metabolites will facilitate the manipulation of the secondary metabolism in fungi.     

Baseline Survey of Root-Associated Microbes of Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd

Taxol (paclitaxel) a diterpenoid is one of the most effective anticancer drugs identified. Biosynthesis of taxol was considered restricted to the Taxus genera until Stierle et al. discovered that an endophytic fungus isolated from Taxus brevifolia could independently synthesize taxol. Little is known about the mechanism of taxol biosynthesis in microbes, but it has been speculated that its biosynthesis may differ from plants. The microbiome from the roots of Taxus chinensis have been extensively investigated with culture-dependent methods to identify taxol synthesizing microbes, but not using culture independent methods.,Using bar-coded high-throughput sequencing in combination with a metagenomics approach, we surveyed the microbial diversity and gene composition of the root-associated microbiomefrom Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd. High-throughput amplicon sequencing revealed 187 fungal OTUs which is higher than any previously reported fungal number identified with the culture-dependent method, suggesting that T. chinensis roots harbor novel and diverse fungi. Some operational taxonomic units (OTU) identified were identical to reported microbe strains possessing the ability to synthesis taxol and several genes previously associated with taxol biosynthesis were identified through metagenomics analysis.     

The induction of taxol production in the endophytic fungus—Periconia sp from Torreya grandifolia

A Periconia sp was isolated from Torreya grandifolia (a relative of yew that does not synthesize taxol) near Huangshan National Park in the People’s Republic of China. This fungus, not previously known as a tree endophyte, was isolated from the inner bark of a small lower limb. When freshly isolated from the tree and placed in a semi-synthetic medium, the fungus produced readily detectable quantities of the anticancer drug taxol. Other taxol-producing endophytes were also isolated from this source. The production of taxol by Periconia sp was demonstrated unequivocally via spectroscopic and immunological methods. However, successive transfers of the fungus in semi-synthetic medium resulted in gradual attenuation until low production occurred even though fungal growth was relatively unaffected. Several compounds, known previously as activators of microbial metabolism, including serinol, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and a mixture of phenolic acids, were capable of fully or partially restoring taxol production to otherwise taxol-attenuated cultures. The compound with the most impressive ability to activate taxol production was benzoic acid at 0.01 mM. Benzoic acid was not a taxol precursor. Received 19 December 1997/ Accepted in revised form 19 February 1998     

真菌紫杉醇/烷研究近况

紫杉醇（Taxol?）是天然抗癌药物,已在临床上广泛使用,市场需求量大,由于生产原料的制约,供需之间存在巨大缺口,价格仍然昂贵。利用真菌发酵生产紫杉醇是解决药源的一条新途径。对产紫杉醇内生真菌的多样性,紫杉醇真菌的采集鉴定、真菌紫杉醇提取和测定的一些经验,紫杉醇真菌分子生物及生物合成代谢研究进展等进行了综述。     

Comparative studies of calretinin expression by WiDr cell line in vivo in xenografts in nude mice and in vitro.

WiDr cells from a human colon adenocarcinoma cultivated in vitro express the calcium binding protein calretinin. The immunoreactivity is present in some interphasic cells and decreases after seven days in culture together with the augmentation of the cell number. Calretinin expression is maintained in the undifferentiated cells of the tumoral mass developed in nude mice and in recultivated isolated tumour cells from the xenograft. From the experiments here described, the protein expression is quantitatively influenced in vitro by the addition of drugs, such as colchicine and taxol, which intervene in cytoskeleton organisation. The percentage of the calretinin immunoreactive cells increases after the addition of colchicine to the medium while the immunoblot analysis shows a higher calretinin content in the cells treated with taxol.     

Enhanced taxol production and release in Taxus chinensis cell suspension cultures with selected organic solvents and sucrose feeding

Suspension culture of Taxus chinensis cells was carried out in aqueous-organic two-phase systems for the production and in situ solvent extraction of taxol (paclitaxel). Three organic solvents, hexadecane, decanol, and dibutylphthalate, were tested at 5-20% (v/v) in the culture liquid. All of these solvents stimulated taxol release and the yield per cell, though decanol and higher concentrations of the other two solvents depressed biomass growth significantly. Ten percent dibutylphthalate was the optimal solvent for improving taxol production and release with minimal cell growth inhibition. The time of solvent addition to the culture also affected taxol production, with the addition during the late-log growth phase being most favorable. By feeding sucrose to the culture near the stationary growth phase, the cell growth and taxol production period was extended from 27 to 42 days. The combining of the two-phase culture and sucrose feeding increased the taxol yield by about 6-fold compared with the single-phase batch culture, to 36.0 +/- 3.5 mg/L, with up to 63% taxol released. This study shows that in situ solvent extraction combined with nutrient feeding is an effective process strategy for production and recovery of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension culture.     

产紫杉醇内生真菌Z58的分离和鉴定

本研究从曼地亚红豆杉（Taxus x media）树皮内表皮分离得到一株产紫杉醇的内生真菌Z58,通过高效液相色谱法、质谱法和核磁共振波谱法对其紫杉醇提取物进行了分析. 结果表明,内生真菌Z58的紫杉醇提取物具有和紫杉醇标准品相近的色谱特征峰,其保留时间为10.2 min;也与紫杉醇标准品具有相同的质谱特征峰（（M+Na）+=876）和1H-NMR谱带.并通过形态学特征分析和18S rDNA序列分析,将内生真菌Z58初步鉴定为肉座菌属（Hypocrea sp.）真菌.肉座菌Z58的紫杉醇产量约为2.5～3.0 μg/g（紫杉醇/菌丝干重）,是一株具有潜在应用价值的产紫杉醇内生真菌.     

基于定量PCR技术探讨紫杉醇生物合成的限速步骤

次生代谢产物牛物合成受到发育和诱导的调控,本实验研究了组织分化和诱导处理对紫杉醇生物合成的影响,并采用定量PCR技术分析了紫杉醇生物合成不同阶段关键酶基因的动态表达特征。结果表明。紫杉醇主要分布在中国红豆杉（Taxus chinensis）树皮和根皮组织中,针叶内含量很少,催化紫杉醇功能官能团连接的关键酶摹因也主要定位在树皮和根皮组织巾;茉莉酸甲酯（MJ）和真菌诱导子F5分别提高了中国红豆杉悬浮培养细胞HG-1紫杉醇得率8倍和10倍,同时有效诱导紫杉醇生物合成基因的表达。发现催化紫杉醇侧链连接的基因与紫杉醇生物合成早正相关。结果表明。紫杉醇生物合成的限速步骤是催化功能官能团连接的步骤。     

Isolation of a field strain of Babesia bigemina (Piroplasma: Babesiidae) and establishment of in vitro culture for antigen production

Isolation of a field strain of Babesia bigemina (Piroplasma: Babesiidae) and establishment of in vitro culture for antigen production. Bovine b abesiosis, caused by Babesia bigemina, is a barrier for livestock development; it results in high economic loss to Mexican livestock. Control requires adequate antigens for diagnosis and vaccination programs. However, because of antigenic variation among Babesia strains, it is necessary to use antigens prepared from local strains. The purpose of the present study was to isolate a local field strain and to establish the in vitro culture of B. bigemina by the evaluation of the constituent's concentration of culture media. Thirty engorged female Boophilus microplus were collected from cattle suffering clinical babesiosis (B. bigemina) in Yucatan state, Mexico. These ticks were sent to the laboratory for detection of Babesia sp. vermicules. Eggs were kept at 83-85 % humidity and 27 degrees C until hatching. Larvae were transferred to an esplenectomized calf (B-1). The resulting nymphs were transferred to an esplenectomized calf (B-2). Twelve days later, B. bigemina (local strain) was detected in calf B-2 and its infected blood was frozen in liquid nitrogen to initiate the in vitro culture. The Microaerophilus Stationary Phase (MASP) in vitro culture method was used to reactivate the parasite. Three different concentrations of culture media (70, 60 and 50%), serum (30, 40 and 50%) and uninfected red blood cells (5, 10 and 15 %) were used in order to know the convenient concentrations to obtain the highest percentage of infected red blood cells (PEI). The cultured strain was used to prepare antigens for the Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) and several concentrations of serum and conjugate were tested. Strain isolation was successful; 30 days were needed to obtain a PEI of 1.5%. The isolated strain was frozen in liquid nitrogen and the parasites were reactivated with the in vitro culture MASP method. The concentration of culture media that produced the highest PEI (14%) (p < 0.05) was 30% serum, 70% M199 and 5%. Uninfected Red Blood cells antigens were successfully used in the IFAT and the best dilutions to differentiate between positive and negative controls were serum 1:80 and conjugate 1:80. The isolated B. bigemina local strain requires particular conditions of in vitro culture by the MASP method to reach high numbers of infected red blood cells, needed to prepare and provide high quality antigens for serological diagnosis of B. bigemina.     

从中国红豆杉细胞培养物中分离鉴定紫杉醇

中国红豆杉(Taxus chinensis(Pilger．)Rehd)细胞在培养过程中合成了紫杉醇,我们利用固液分离、大孔吸附树脂吸附富集、有机溶剂萃取、硅胶柱层析、低压硅胶柱层析、重结晶等方法,从中国红豆杉的细胞培养物中分离纯化了紫杉醇,用多种核磁共振波谱方法(^1H NMR,^13C NMR,DEPT,^1H-^1H-COSY,NOESY,HMQC,HMBC)结合质谱(FABMS),红外光谱、紫外光谱等方法鉴定了它的化学结构,证明与源于天然红豆杉植物材料提取的紫杉醇为同一物质。     

一株产紫杉醇内生真菌液体发酵工艺的优化

紫杉醇是一种高效、低毒、广谱的天然抗癌药物,可以有效地治疗乳腺癌、子宫癌等。近年来的研究发现,从植物内生真菌中发酵生产紫杉醇被证明是解决药源问题的有效途径。从分离到的420株内生真菌中筛选到一株产紫杉醇的内生真菌XC1-07为实验材料进行发酵条件的初步优化。结果表明：最适碳源、氮源分别是麦芽糖和NH4NO3;在含10g/L NH4NO3、90g/L麦芽糖、1.0g/L MgSO4、pH6的优化培养基中培养13d,紫杉醇的产量为1,124.34μg/L。为目前报道的植物内生真菌发酵生产紫杉醇最高的产量。     

Cladosporium cladosporioides XJ-AC03, an aconitine-producing endophytic fungus isolated from Aconitum leucostomum

The endophytic fungus XJ-AC03, which was isolated from the healthy roots of Aconitum leucostomum, produced aconitine when grown in potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. The presence of aconitine was confirmed by the chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses. The yield of aconitine was recorded as 236.4 μg/g by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mass spectrometry was shown to be identical to authentic aconitine. Further analysis with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to show the chemical structure of the fungal aconitine indicated that the fungal aconitine produced an NMR spectrum identical to that of authentic aconitine. Strain XJ-AC03 was identified as Cladosporium cladosporioides by its characteristic culture morphology and ITS rDNA sequence analysis.     

Isolation of a taxol-resistant Leishmania donovani promastigote mutant that exhibits a multidrug-resistant phenotype

We raised a strain of Leishmania donovani in the laboratory that was resistant to 500 nM taxol. The IC50 of the wild-type strain for taxol was 35 nM and that of the taxol-resistant strain (T-500) was 1 microM. The T-500 strain exhibited a Mdr phenotype; it was also resistant to other unrelated drugs like vinblastine, adriamycin and the commonly used antimonial drugs pentostam and glucantime. Verapamil (20 nM), a calcium channel blocker, was found to reverse the resistance of T-500 to taxol. Acquired resistance to taxol has been reported to be mediated by alterations involving tubulin in cancer cells. Thus polymerisation assays with tubulin fractions in wild-type versus taxol-resistant cells (T-500) were performed in vitro. The tubulin fraction from T-500 was more resistant to in vitro polymerisation than the tubulin isolated from the wild-type, suggesting that this is one means by which the parasite may acquire resistance to taxol.     

Hydrogen peroxide from the oxidative burst is not involved in the induction of taxol biosynthesis in Taxus chinensis cells

In cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis, 40 mg/l fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger and 20 microM HgCl2 elicited 5.7 and 3.6 mg/l taxol, which was a 9-fold and 5-fold increase vs. compared with the control, respectively. The fungal elicitor induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation but HgCl2 did not, indicating that H2O2 was not necessary for enhancement of taxol induced by elicitor. Compared with the treatment with fungal elicitor alone, exogenous catalase, ascorbic acid, diphenylene iodonium and superoxide dismutase induced a 0.45, 0.4, 0.7 and 1.4-fold H2O2, but elicited taxol production, which was 0.98, 1.2, 1.1 and 0.9-fold, respectively, vs. non-treated cells Elicitor-induced taxol production was not accorded with the amount of H2O2 production.