Paclitaxel is possibly the most famous natural product of endophytic fungi. This highly functionalized diterpenoid is a potent antimitotic compound originally isolated from the stem bark of the western yew,
Taxus brevifolia. It was the first natural substance that demonstrated antimycotic, antileukemic, and tumor inhibitory activities
[1]. In 1993, the first endophytic fungi producing paclitaxel was reported.
Taxomyces andreanae was isolated from the inner bark of
T. brevifolia and produced paclitaxel and related compounds when grown in a semisolid synthetic medium
[2]. Frequently, paclitaxel-producing endophytic fungi have been isolated from different sources other than
Taxus trees, even at a higher concentrations than those isolated from
Taxus trees; such is the case of studies focused on endophytes from plants used in traditional medicine
[3][4][5][6]. For example,
Cladosporium oxysporum, isolated from the medicinal plant
Moringa oleifera yields 550 μg/L in liquid fermentation
[7], a high concentration considering that
Taxomyces andreanae yielded 0.05 μg/L at similar culture conditions. Likewise,
Phoma betae from
Ginkgo biloba leaves yielded 795 μg/L
[5]. Now, hundreds of fungi isolated from yew and other plants have been shown to produce paclitaxel
[8], including patents for the production of paclitaxel from endophytic fungi focused on optimization of the production process, methods for purification from the fermentation broth, and methods for screening paclitaxel-producing endophytic fungi
[9].