Enhanced production of paclitaxel and taxanes by cell cultures of

Taxus brevifolia, canadensis, cuspidata, baccata, globosa, floridana, wallichiana, media chinensisTaxusT. chinensis Taxus This invention provides methods whereby taxol, baccatin III, and other taxol-like compounds, or taxanes, can be produced in very high yield from all known species, e.g., and . Particular modifications of culture conditions (i.e., media composition and operating modes) have been discovered to enhance the yield of various taxanes from cell culture of all species of . Particularly preferred enhancement agents include silver ion or complex, jasmonic acid (especially the methyl ester), auxin-related growth regulators, and inhibitors of the phenylpropanoid pathway, such as 3,4-methylenedioxy-6-nitrocinnamic acid. These enhancement agents may be used alone or in combination with one another or other yield-enhancing conditions. While the yield of taxanes from plant cell culture of is particularly enhanced by use of one or more of these conditions, yield of taxanes for all species has been found to benefit from use of these conditions.