Taxol (paclitaxel) is one of the most used chemotherapeutic drugs, first
isolated from Pacific yew tree T. brevifolia. It is used for several cancer treatments due
to its unique mechanism of action. The demand for taxol supply was exceeded
significantly due to its low accumulation in Taxus sp., slow growth of the tree and high
cost of extraction. Due to these reasons, considerable efforts have been carried out to
explore the alternative sources, including plants other than Taxus sp., total and semisynthesis
of taxol, plant cell culture technology, and endophytic fungi. The
biosynthesis of taxol is a complex pathway and several genes associated with taxol
biosynthesis are identified and cloned. Transcriptomic studies of the critical genes
involved in taxol biosynthesis pathway provided valuable insight in gene regulation
patterns about metabolite synthesis. Also, recent advances in metabolic engineering
have demonstrated the potential of genes regulation to increase taxol production. This
chapter provides a more in-depth insight into basic and applied research to increase
taxol production.
Keywords: Biosynthetic pathway, Cancer treatment, Metabolic engineering,
Natural products, Secondary metabolites, Taxol, Taxus, Taxol production,
Taxanes, Taxol toxicity.
