Novel synthetic jasmonates as highly efficient elicitors for taxoid production by suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis

Suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis were used as a model plant cell system to evaluate novel synthetic jasmonates as elicitors for stimulating the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Significant increases in accumulation of taxuyunnanine C (Tc) were observed in the presence of newly synthesized 2-hydroxyethyl jasmonate (HEJA) and trifluoroethyl jasmonate (TFEJA) without their inhibition on cell growth. Addition of 100 μM HEJA or TFEJA on day 7 led to a high Tc content of 44.3 ± 1.1mg/g or 39.7 ± 1.1 mg/g (at day 21), while the Tc content was 14.0 ± 0.1 mg/g and 32.4 ± 1.6 mg/g for the control and that with addition of 100 μM methyl jasmonate (MJA), respectively. The superior stimulating ability of HEJA and TFEJA over MJA, which was generally considered as the best chemical for eliciting taxoid biosynthesis, suggests that the novel jasmonate analogues may have great potential in application to other cell culture systems for efficient elicitation of plant secondary metabolites.