Taxane-Producing Fungi Isolated from <i>Taxus globosa</i> Tree Bark

The taxane molecules extracted from the bark of trees from the <i>Taxus</i> genus demonstrate anticancer activity and are the main components of the drug paclitaxel. Even though a great deal of research has been carried out to produce them synthetically, this manufacturing is still depen...

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Main Authors: Jocelyn Guadalupe Guevara-Sánchez, María Guadalupe Aguilar-Uscanga, Carlos Augusto Ledesma-Escobar, Claudia Castro-Martínez, Renaud Condé, Bernardo Sachman-Ruíz, Sandra del Moral
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Microorganisms
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/2/300
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Summary:The taxane molecules extracted from the bark of trees from the <i>Taxus</i> genus demonstrate anticancer activity and are the main components of the drug paclitaxel. Even though a great deal of research has been carried out to produce them synthetically, this manufacturing is still dependent on <i>Taxus</i> cell culture. Furthermore, these processes are not suitable for steady taxane production. Therefore, the search for alternative sources of taxane production has generated growing interest amongst the scientific community. The use of endophytic fungi for the obtention of taxane constitutes an attractive alternative. Here, we present an analysis of the taxane production of several microorganisms through LC–QTOF MS/MS. We isolated 21 endophytic fungus strains, identified through sequencing of their internal transcribed spacer region (ITS). The phylogenetic analysis showed the presence of 11 different <i>Fungus</i> genera, namely <i>Aspergillus</i>, <i>Trichoderma</i>, <i>Neurospora</i>, <i>Penicillium</i>, <i>Curvularia</i>, <i>Arcopilus</i>, <i>Biscogniauxia</i>, <i>Hypoxylon</i>, <i>Sordaria</i>, <i>Xylariales</i>, and <i>Gelasinospora</i>. These fungi have been previously described to synthetize distinct metabolites of medical interest, hence supporting the study of their potential taxane production. Here, we report the production of taxadiene by some of these fungi, namely <i>Aspergillus</i> sp. (1.35 μg/L)<i>,</i> TgO (0.7 μg/L)<i>, Trichoderma harzianum</i> (0.13 μg/L), and <i>Hypoxylon</i> sp. (0.3 μg/L). Furthermore, we also detected the production of baccatin III, a crucial precursor component of the drug paclitaxel. This is the first report of taxane production by fungi phylogenetically related to the <i>Arcopilus</i> and <i>Endoxyla</i> genera.
ISSN:2076-2607