Taxane Contents of Taxus Cultivars Grown in American Nurseries
The taxane content of the needles, stems and clippings of 92 cultivars obtained from ten nurseries in the United States is presented. The analysis of 10-desacetyl baccatin III (1), baccatin III (2), 10-desacetyl taxol (3) cephalomannie (4), 10-desacetyl-7-epi-taxol (5) and taxol (6) was carried out using a high performance liquid chromatographic method developed in our laboratory. The total ‘useful’ taxane content of the leaves, stems, and clippings in the studied cultivars ranged from 0.0135–0.1471%, 0.0055–0.0462% and 0.0121–0.1183%, respectively, with 1 and 6 being the most abundant. The survey identified 18 cultivars with a content of 1 ranging from 0.015% to 0.0622% and 24 cultivars with a content of 6 ranging from 0.012% to 0.062%; compound 2 was either undetectable or found in negligible amounts in all the cultivars studied. The contents of 3 varied between 0.0019–0.0264% and that of 4 between 0.0017–0.0386%, while that of 5 between 0–0.0107%.Abstract
Contributor Notes
This work was supported in part by Bristol Myers Squibb Company and by the National Cancer Institute (Grant # Ca 55127-01) and the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The “Taxane Standard Kit” was obtained from the Drug Synthesis and Chemistry Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute through Dr. Kenneth Snader. The authors also appreciate the cooperation of the following nurseries in providing the plant material: Zelenka Nursery, Inc., Rhode Island Nurseries, Inc., Fairview Evergreen Nurseries, Inc., Studebaker Nurseries, Cottage Gardens, Inc., Angelica Nurseries, Inc., Clinton Nurseries, Ridge Manor Nursery, Scarff's Nursery, Inc. and Gardner's Nurseries, Inc. The authors thank Mr. Patrick Connolly of Portland, Oregon for furnishing the T. brevfolia bark: and Mr. Jim Urbanek of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences for drying the plant materials.
2Research Professor. To whom correspondence should be addressed, Phone 601-232-7610.Fax 601-232-5118. E-mail: helsohly@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu
3Research Associate Professor.
4Research Scientist.
5Research Associate.
6Research Professor.
7Bamard Distinguished Professor. Present address: NaPro BioTherapeutics, Inc. 6304-A Spine Road, Boulder, CO 80301.