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Production of taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene by transgenic Physcomitrella patens

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Abstract

Taxadiene synthase gene from Taxus brevifolia was constitutively expressed in the moss Physcomitrella patens using a ubiquitin promoter to produce taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene, the precursor of the anticancer drug paclitaxel. In stable moss transformants, taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene was produced up to 0.05% fresh weight of tissue, without significantly affecting the amounts of the endogenous diterpenoids (ent-kaurene and 16-hydroxykaurane). Unlike higher plants that had been genetically modified to produce taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene, transgenic P. patens did not exhibit growth inhibition due to alteration of diterpenoid metabolic pools. Thus we propose that P. patens is a promising alternative host for the biotechnological production of paclitaxel and its precursors.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Rodney Croteau (Washington State University) for the taxadiene synthase gene and antibody used in this study, as well as Dr. Robert Coates (University of Illinois) for ent-kaurene and 16-hydroxykaurane standards. This work is supported by the Southern Illinois University SEED Grant (to A.A.) and Southern Illinois University REACH Award (to E.S.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Aldwin Anterola & Erin Shanle

  2. Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Pierre-François Perroud & Ralph Quatrano

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  1. Aldwin Anterola
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  2. Erin Shanle
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  3. Pierre-François Perroud
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  4. Ralph Quatrano
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Correspondence to Aldwin Anterola.

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Anterola, A., Shanle, E., Perroud, PF. et al. Production of taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene by transgenic Physcomitrella patens . Transgenic Res 18, 655–660 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-009-9252-5

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