Study of dbat gene expression pattern and Taxol production in Yew (Taxus baccata) ‎leaves under the influence of Methyl Jasmonate

Taxus is one of the most valuable plant resources that has a variety of benefits and uses. The leaves of this plant are a good source for extracting an anti-cancer drug called Taxol. Today, therapeutic approaches for use herbal medicines have been developed, so the study of the biosynthetic pathway of medicinal plants is important. In the present study, plant samples were treated with Methyl Jasmonate at different concentrations of 0, 100, 250 and 500 μM and kept for 48 hours and 72 hours. After treatment, dbat gene expression was measured by Real Time PCR, also the amount of Taxol produced was examined by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the obtained data were analyzed. The results showed that at 72 hours, the expression of dbat gene at a concentration of 250 μM was 1.68 times higher than the control plant. In addition, at 48 hours and 100 μM, the expression of dbat gene was lower than all treatments. Also, the highest amount of Taxol produced in the treated plant was observed with a concentration of 500 μM Methyl Jasmonate and a time of 48 hours at the rate of 0.3276 mg / g dry weight. Pearson correlation test showed that there was no significant relationship between gene expression and Taxol production. This may be due to the difference between the expression time of the gene and the Taxol produced under the influence of the Methyl Jasmonate.