• KSBB Journal
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.299-305
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• 1994

Taxol contents in various parts of 15 years old yew tree were determined. The descending order of taxol content per unit mass was stem bark, root bark, needle and seed. In the seed, that order was seed coat, embryo and endosperm. The total amount of taxol extractable from a 15 years old yew tree was 1.68 gram. This amount was distributed in needle, stem bark, root bark and seeds as 48.0, 23.8, 27.9 and 0.4%, respectively. Altitudinal variation of taxol content was also observed. More taxol was observed in yew trees grown at high altitude over 1000m above sea level. Calli and suspension cultures were induced from various yew trees. The presence of taxo] in cultured cells was established bv HPLC. The taxol content in cultured cells were different according to the source of explants. These results may be useful for the goal of large scale taxol production by cultured yew tree cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.36-36
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• 2003

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.201-208
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• 1986

The water status of the leaves of several evergreen plants was investigated in order to discuss the geopgraphical distribution of them. Relastionship between relative water content and water potential of the leaves showed linear decrease for evergreen conifers but exponential decrease for Korean box tree (Buxus microphylla var. koreana). On the basis of the leaf water potential, the water status of the conifers during wintering was distinctly divided into three periods; hardening, cold resistance and dehardening, but lacking in those periods for the Korean box tree, where the status continously decreased. In the cold resistance the leaf water potentials were -23 bar for both spruce (Picea jezoensis) and yew (Taxus cuspidata). From these results and threshold temperature at beginning of hardening, distribution of the conifers was explained that in order of the red pine, the Korean white pine, the yew and the spruce the distribution could be extended at higher altitudes and in more northward areas, whereas the distribution of the Korean box tree was restricted to the lowland of temperate zone.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1342-1347
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• 2009

We have isolated endophytic fungi from the Indian yew tree, Taxus baccata, and then screened for taxol production. Out of the 40 fungal cultures screened, one fungus Gliocladium sp. was found to produce taxol and 10-DABIII (10-deacetyl baccatin III). These compounds were purified by TLC and HPLC and characterized using UV-spectroscopy, ESI-MS, MS/MS, and proton NMR. One liter of Gliocladium sp. culture yielded $10\;{\mu}g$ of taxol and $65\;{\mu}g$ of 10-DABIII. The purified taxol from the fungus showed cytotoxicity towards cancer lines HL-60 (leukemia), A431 (epidermal carcinoma), and MCF-7 (breast cancer).

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2001

To examine the effects of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the tree growths of central Korea, tree rings of Korean pine(Pinus koraiensis) , Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) and yew (Taxus cuspidata) were analyzed. Korean pine and red pine samples were collected from 4 and 7sites in Sorak Mountain ranges, respectively ; yew from one site in Sobaek Mountain. Correlations between ring-width and monthly temperature data showed generally positive relationships for the Korean pine and yew chronologies, but negative ones for the red pine chronologies. In the analysis of correlation between ring-width and monthly S0 index data, only one Korean pine chronology at the lower Hangaerung valley site, and one red pine chronology at Baekdamjang shelter site showed significant relationships ; negative with April SOI for the former and positive with previous August-September SOI for the latter. The other chronologies at higher elevation sites did not indicate any significant correlations with SOI.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.427-440
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• 1998

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.335-337
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• 1995

The effect of plant growth regulators on proliferation of shoot from stem node culture of Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata Sieb. et Zucc.) was studied using Quoirin and Lepoivre (1977) medium. Among the cytokinin tested, BAP, kinetin, and thidiazuron at various concentrations had no effect on shoot multiplication However when zeatin at 5$\times$10$^{-5}$ M was added to the medium, an average of 6 shoots were regenerated per explant after 8 weeks of culture. The ratio of rooting ex vitro was remarkably increased up to 34% by dipping the basal end in 0.5 to 1.0% IBA on talc compared with 3% in vitro rooting. Rooted plantlets were acclimated in greenhouse conditions for one month and successfully transplanted to the field.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2000

To develop an efficient propagation method for yew tree, zygotic embryos were cultured under various conditions. When dissected embryos were cultured on GA$_3$ containing media, the highest germination frequency was observed on WPM medium contaning 1.0 mg/L GA$_3$. For germination of the embryos, two different conditions were compared; culturing embryos with endosperm (Method I), and 2) culturing embryos only (Method II). Maximum germination was achieved in 0.5 mg/L GA$_3$ when embryos with endosperm were cultured on the media. Of the media tested, White and WPM medium were the most suitable on germination of embryos. The abnormality of yew embryos found was observed when it cultured on GA$_3$ or culture media. About 40% of the precociously germinated embryos could be developed into full seedlings. Seedlings contained taxol in high quantity (535 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry weight). In vitro techniques will be sewed as a useful tool for the development of transformed root cultures and biosynthesis studies.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.286-291
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• 1997

Taxol which is recognized as a powerful anticancer reagent was extracted from yew extract and separated by NP-HPLC (Normal-PhaseHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography). The experiments were performed in the isocratic mode with $5{\mu}l$ to $100{\mu}l$ injection volume and 1ml/min mobile phase flow rate. The major mobile phase was hexane and small amounts of ethanol, methanol, 1-propanol and isopropanol were added to change the retention behavior. Prior to a real sample, the artificial mixture of taxol, cephalomannine and 10-deacetyltaxol was tested. They are hard to be separated because of similar chemical structures. The experimental results showed that the proper composition of mobile phase for separating the three components was found 96% hexane and 4% ethanol(vol.%) or 96% hexane, 2% 1-propanol and 2% methanol(vol.%). Compared to the run time of 80 minutes for the binary system, the mixture was separated within 50 minutes with the less amount of mobile phase for the ternary system. Finally, $1{\mu}g$ of taxol was separated from yew tree extracts under the optimum operating conditions.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2007

We demonstrate that paclitaxel, an antitumor agent derived from yew tree, inhibits LPS- and $IFN-{\gamma}$-induced NF-kB/Rel activation in RAW 264.7 cells. Previously, paclitaxel ($>10{\mu}M$) has been known to induce iNOS gene expression in macrophages. However, in the previous report we described that the pretreatment of macrophages with low concentration of paclitaxel ($0.1{\mu}M$) for 8 h inhibited LPS-induced iNOS gene expression. Pretreatment of RAW 264.7 cells with paclitaxel significantly inhibited NF-kB/Rel transcriptional activation. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay further confirmed that pretreatment of macrophages with paclitaxel inhibited NF-kB/Rel DNA binding. Taxotere, a semisynthetic analog of paclitaxel, also inhibited LPS- and $IFN-{\gamma}$-induced iNOS gene expression. Collectively, these series of experiments indicate that paclitaxel inhibits iNOS gene expression by blocking NF-kB/Rel activation.