Taxomyces andreanae is an endophytic fungus which is well known for its symbiotic association with its host plant Taxus brevifolia and is capable of producing the anticancerous bioactive compound Taxol [1,2]., Various significant bioactive mixtures from T. andreanae with antimicrobial and anticancerous properties have been effectively isolated in the past twenty years [3]. These bioactive compounds include alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, phenols and lactones [4,5]. In the symbiotic association the host plant can supply adequate nutrition and easeful niche for the endurance of its endophytes and in return the endophytes can deliver an adequate measure of bioactive components for aiding the host plants to adapt to biotic and abiotic stress, thus promoting its development [6,7]. The bioactive compound Taxol is also known to be produced in other host plants, such as T. baccata, T. chinensis and T. canadensis [8,9]

Taxol is an anticancerous chemotherapeutic drug also known as a plant alkaloid (taxane) [10].it was first isolated by Monroe Wall, Mansukh Wani and his associates at the Natural Products Laboratory of the Research Triangle Institute along with camptothecin, another anticancerous compound [11,12]. Taxol is an oxygenated diterpenoid compound isolated from the bark of Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) [13]. Taxol also commercialized by the name of Paclitaxel, it promotes the development and stabilization of the tubulin polymer unlike other anticancer drugs that incite microtubule dismantling [14]. Taxol exhibit poor solubility therefore is prepared as solutions in Cremophor EL and dehydrated alcohol [15,16].

Taxol production in Taxus plants involves atleast 20 enzymatic reactions [17]. The biosynthetic pathway begins with the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to form taxa-4(5), 11(12)- diene and involves compounds from a few unique classes that are situated in various cell compartments, including the plastid, endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol [18,19]. Microbial Taxol and texane biosynthesis were found in a few other various genera of including Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Moncheite, Pistoia, Penicillium isolated from yew and non-Taxus Plants [20,21].

Taxol is one of the effective well-known drugs for cancer treatment and it tends to be utilized in all phases of cancer spread [22]. It is used against specific tumors of lung, ovary, breast, head, and neck, inhibiting cell division and slowing down detachment of chromosomes [23,24].

The following Taxol side effects are as follows:

  • Low blood counts (decreased white and red blood cells and platelets)
  • Possible anemia and/or bleeding [25].
  • Arthralgias and myalgias, pain in the joints and muscles [26]
  •  Peripheral neuropathy
  • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea [27,28]
  • Hypersensitivity reaction (hives, swelling, rashes etc) [29].

Thus, Taxomyces andreanae is a natural source of Taxol, an anticancerous drug that is widely used in therapeutics

  1. Prakash V, Rana S, & Sagar A (2016) Taxomyces andreanae: A source of anticancer drug. Int J Bot Stud 1: 43-46.
  2. Stierle A, Strobel G, Stierle D, Grothaus P, & Bignami G (1995) The search for a taxol-producing microorganism among the endophytic fungi of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia. Journal of natural products 58: 1315-1324.
  3. Strobel GA, Hess WM, Ford E, Sidhu RS, & Yang X (1996) Taxol from fungal endophytes and the issue of biodiversity. Journal of Industrial Microbiology 17: 417-423.
  4. Priti V, Ramesha BT, Singh S, Ravikanth G, Ganeshaiah KN, et al. (2009) How promising are endophytic fungi as alternative sources of plant secondary metabolites? Current Science 97: 477-478.
  5. Sudhakar T, Dash S, Rao R, Srinivasan R, Zacharia S, et al. (2013) Do endophytic fungi possess pathway genes for plant secondary metabolites. Curr Sci 104: 178.
  6. Strobel GA (2002) Microbial gifts from rain forests1. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology 24: 14-20.
  7. Strobel GA (2003) Endophytes as sources of bioactive products. Microbes and infection 5: 535-544.
  8. Zhao J, Shan T, Mou Y & Zhou L (2011) Plant-derived bioactive compounds produced by endophytic fungi. Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry 11: 159-168.
  9. Zhao J, Zhou L, Wang J, Shan T, Zhong L, Liu X & Gao X (2010) Endophytic fungi for producing bioactive compounds originally from their host plants. Curr Res Technol Educ Trop Appl Microbiol Microbial Biotechnol 1: 567-576.
  10. Cragg GM & Newman DJ (2005) Plants as a source of anti-cancer agents. Journal of ethnopharmacology 100: 72-79.
  11. Sisodiya PS (2013) Plant derived anticancer agents: a review. Int. J. Res. Dev. Pharm. Life Sci, 2(2), 293-308.
  12. Khazir J, Mir BA, Pilcher L & Riley DL (2014) Role of plants in anticancer drug discovery. Phytochemistry Letters 7: 173-181.
  13. Lichota A & Gwozdzinski K (2018) Anticancer activity of natural compounds from plant and marine environment. International journal of molecular sciences 19: 3533.
  14. Spencer CM & Faulds D (1994) Paclitaxel. Drugs 48: 794-847.
  15. Rowinsky EK & Donehower RC (1995) Paclitaxel (taxol). New England journal of medicine 332: 1004-1014.
  16. Horwitz SB (1994) Taxol (paclitaxel): mechanisms of action. Annals of oncology: official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology 5: S3-6.
  17. Walker K & Croteau R (2001) Taxol biosynthetic genes. Phytochemistry 58: 1-7.
  18. Walker K, Schoendorf A, & Croteau R (2000) Molecular cloning of a taxa-4 (20), 11 (12)-dien-5α-ol-O-acetyl transferase cDNA from Taxus and functional expression in Escherichia coli. Archives of biochemistry and biophysics 374: 371-380.
  19. Ketchum RE, Rithner CD, Qiu D, Kim YS, Williams RM & Croteau RB (2003) Taxus metabolomics: methyl jasmonate preferentially induces production of taxoids oxygenated at C-13 in Taxus x media cell cultures. Phytochemistry 62: 901-909.
  20. Macwan CP, Patel MA & Patel AJ, Preclinical & Pharmaceutical Research.
  21. Shukla S & Mehta A (2015) Anticancer potential of medicinal plants and their phytochemicals: a review. Brazilian Journal of Botany 38: 199-210.
  22. Suffness M (1993) Taxol: from discovery to therapeutic use. In Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry 28: 305-314.
  23. Arbuck SG, Christian MC, Fisherman JS, Cazenave LA, Sarosy G, et al.  (1993) Clinical development of Taxol. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 15: 11-24.
  24. Rowinsky EK & Donehower RC (1995) Paclitaxel (taxol). New England journal of medicine 332: 1004-1014.
  25. Walker FE (1993). Paclitaxel (TAXOL®): side effects and patient education issues. In Seminars in oncology nursing 9: 6-10.
  26. Nicolaou KC, Dai WM & Guy RK (1994) Chemistry and biology of taxol. Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English 33: 15-44.
  27. Atas A, Agca O, Sarac S, Poyraz A, & Akyol MU (2006) Investigation of ototoxic effects of Taxol on a mice model. International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology 70: 779-784.
  28. Wang, H., Wei, J., Yang, C., Zhao, H., Li, D., Yin, Z., & Yang, Z. (2012). The inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis by self-assembled nanofibers of taxol. Biomaterials, 33(24), 5848-5853.
  29. Hájek R, Vorlicek J & Slavik M (1996) Paclitaxel (Taxol): a review of its antitumor activity in clinical studies Minireview. Neoplasma 43: 141-154.