Transcription level differences in Taxus wallichiana var. mairei elicited by Ce3+, Ce4+ and methyl jasmonate.

Taxol is a precious and effective anticancer drug. Cerium and methyl jasmonate (MJ) have been shown to increase the yield of taxol in taxus cells. However, the mechanisms of cerium-mediated and MJ-mediated taxol biosynthesis remain unknown. RNA-Seq was applied to study the overall regulation mechanism of cerium and MJ on taxol biosynthesis and analyze the differences among T. mairei cells elicited by Ce³⁺, Ce⁴⁺ and MJ on transcriptional level. Using sequence homology, 179 unigenes were identified as taxol synthesis genes. Under the condition of 100 mM MJ, taxol synthesis genes were up-regulated. Notably, taxol synthesis genes were down-regulated expression at 1 mM Ce3+ and 1 mM Ce⁴⁺. Differential expression genes involved in some related functions were analyzed, such as MAPK signaling pathway and plantpathogen interaction. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of nine differentially expressed WRKYs in our data were carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]