FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONSHIPS IN AGRICULTURE

Agricultural and Food Policy,

GOALS OF DEMOCRACY

Public Economics,

Congratulatory Note on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine

A note from President W. Robert Parks congratulating the College of Veterinary Medicine on its centennial anniversary

New Hampshire rural towns\u27 comparative road burdens and road services, Bulletin, no. 339

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

A Summary and Appraisal of Texas Real Property Tax Laws.

37 p

Genome sequencing and analysis of the paclitaxelproducing endophytic fungus \u3cem\u3ePenicillium aurantiogriseum\u3c/em\u3e NRRL 62431

Background Paclitaxel (Taxol™) is an important anticancer drug with a unique mode of action. The biosynthesis of paclitaxel had been considered restricted to the Taxus species until it was discovered in Taxomyces andreanae, an endophytic fungus of T. brevifolia. Subsequently, paclitaxel was found in hazel (Corylus avellana L.) and in several other endophytic fungi. The distribution of paclitaxel in plants and endophytic fungi and the reported sequence homology of key genes in paclitaxel biosynthesis between plant and fungi species raises the question about whether the origin of this pathway in these two physically associated groups could have been facilitated by horizontal gene transfer. Results The ability of the endophytic fungus of hazel Penicillium aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 to independently synthesize paclitaxel was established by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The genome of Penicillium aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 was sequenced and gene candidates that may be involved in paclitaxel biosynthesis were identified by comparison with the 13 known paclitaxel biosynthetic genes in Taxus. We found that paclitaxel biosynthetic gene candidates in P. aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 have evolved independently and that horizontal gene transfer between this endophytic fungus and its plant host is unlikely. Conclusions Our findings shed new light on how paclitaxel-producing endophytic fungi synthesize paclitaxel, and will facilitate metabolic engineering for the industrial production of paclitaxel from fungi