Abstract
Cell culture of Taxus wallichiana Zucc (= T. baccata ssp wallichiana Zucc. Pilg.) (Himalayan yew) has been established and taxol-producing cell lines
selected by cell line cloning. Cell line NC110 derived from needle leaf of a 40-year-old
tree growing in Darjeeling Himalayas produced 0.018% taxol in B5 basal medium supplemented with 2,4-D (2 mg/l), kinetin (0.5 mg/l), and casein hydrolysate
(0.5%). This cell line has been maintained for over 2 years. Significant enhancement
in the level of taxol (0.05%) was obtained in this cell line by supplementation of
the basal medium with 5 mg/l of IAA-phenylalanine instead of 2,4-D without adversely
affecting cell growth. IAA-glycine also enhanced taxol level (0.03%) while IAA alone
(1 -10 mg/l) was ineffective in inducing taxol accumulation. Using three different
cell lines with different taxol-producing capacities, it has been demonstrated that
2,4-D and IAA-phenylalanine when present alone favour growth and taxol production
but when combined enhance biomass to a maximum (six-fold in NC110) without enhancing
taxol accumulation, suggesting that a two-stage culture may be beneficial for optimising
taxol accumulation in cell culture of T. wallichiana.
