Engineering Isoprenoid Biosynthesis in Artemisia annua L. for the Production of Taxadiene: A Key Intermediate of Taxol

Figure 4

(a) GC-MS analysis for taxadiene in the crude hexane extracts from yew and transgenic and wildtype A. annua. The GC profiles of the ion current at m/z 122 from hexane extracts of a yew tree, the A. annua transgenic line 55, and the wildtype control of A. annua. (b) The mass spectrum of the peak with retention time of 17.29 min, matching the published MS data of taxadiene. (c) Artemisinin analysis in transgenic and untransformed A. annua plants by HPLC-ELSD. Plants that were grown in the field for 2.5 and 6.5 months, respectively, were harvested to determine the content of artemisinin in wild control and transgenic A. annua. ck: the wildtype; 3, 5, 11, 19, 30, 55, and 56: independent transgenic lines of A. annua. (mean ± SD, ). (d) The amount of taxadiene in 2.5- and 6.5-month-old A. annua transgenic line 55 (mean ± SD, ). (e) Taxadiene content in the stem and the leaves of 6.5-month-old A. annua transgenic line 55 (mean ± SD, ).