Transcriptome profiling reveals specific patterns of paclitaxel synthesis in a new Taxus yunnanensis cultivar

The difference in contents of paclitaxel and 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DABIII) in needles between wildtype (WT) and a new cultivar (Zhongdayihao, ZD1) of Taxus yunnanensis was examined. Transcriptome profiling was conducted for different tissues of the ZD1 and WT to illustrate the regulation mechanism of paclitaxel biosynthesis. It was observed that average contents of paclitaxel and 10-DABIII in ZD1 were 4 folds and 32 folds higher than those in WT, respectively. More significant elevations of differential expressed genes (DEGs) from paclitaxel biosynthesis pathway were revealed in ZD1 rather than WT, which should be responsible for the higher contents of paclitaxel and 10-DABIII in the ZD1. Special tissues-dependent expression patterns of paclitaxel biosynthesis DEGs in ZD1 compared to WT were unraveled. The relative higher expressions of paclitaxel biosynthesis genes in needles than other tissues supported the higher content of paclitaxel and 10-DABIII content in needles of ZD1. Attenuation of plant hormone signal transduction pathway led to the lower expression of TFs in ZD1 rather than WT. Besides, the significant negative correlations between differential expressed TFs and DEGs from paclitaxel biosynthesis pathway displayed a possibly negative regulation pattern of these TFs on paclitaxel biosynthesis pathway genes. These results provided new insights into the molecular process of paclitaxel synthesis in Taxus.