Mycosynthesis of anticancer drug taxol by Aspergillus oryzae, an endophyte of Tarenna asiatica, characterization, and its activity against a human lung cancer cell line

Abstract

Abstract Taxol is a member of the taxane family of chemotherapy drugs, which includes cabazitaxel and docetaxel that have a promising role as anti-cancer drugs for specific human cancers. Hence, in order to meet the requirement, an alternative source for Taxol production, such as filamentous fungi is needed. In this study, a different endophytic fungus was obtained from a particular medicinal plant, Tarenna asiatica, and was selected for Taxol production. Among 28 screened fungi, only six fungal species produced Taxol in the modified liquid medium. The novel Taxol-producing endophytic fungi were identified through morphological and molecular identification using DNA sequencing and phylogenetic tree construction as Aspergillus oryzae. The structure of Taxol obtained from A. oryzae was identified with the appropriate control using an ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometer (235 nm), thin layer chromatography (TLC), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The fungal Taxol (95.04 μg/L) from the A. oryzae exhibits potent in vitro activity against selected cell line (Human Lung Cancer Cell Line- NCI–H460).