The effect of copper sulphate elicitor on gene expression of TXS, DBAT, BAPT, DBTNB and biosynthesis of some taxanes in Taxus baccata L. cell culture

Taxanes are dipropenoid compounds with known anti-cancer effects. One of the most important Taxanes is Taxol. Since the traditional method of Taxol extraction from the yew bark was inefficient and non-economic, attempts expanded to find an effective method. The tissue culture and cell culture was known as the most desirable method in this field. Using elicitors is one of the best ways to improve the production of secondary metabolites. Therefore, in this study, the effect of 0.125 and 0.625 mg / L of copper sulfate during two and seven days on the amount of Taxol and 10- Deacetylbaccatin III (10- DAB) in the cell suspension culture of T. baccata was studied. The results showed that the concentration of 125.0 mg / L over seven days resulted in a significant increase (43%) of 10- DAB, while the concentration of 0.625 mg / L over the same period resulted in a significant reduction of Taxol (23%) and 10-DAB (16%). Also, the effect of selective concentration of copper sulfate (0.125 mg / L) on the expression of txs, dbat, bapt and dbtnbt over 12, 24 and 48 hours were studied. The results declared that the expression level of dbat increased five times after 12 hours but the expression of other genes is very low and as the same as control, even expression of txs after 24 hours suppressed. Although this significant increase in 10-DAB is negligible, but for the importance of this material as a taxol precursor, these results could be notable.