Taxus baccata

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Accidental exposure of children to plants occurs often and results in numerous calls to poison centres. The aim of this study was to identify outdoor plants that led to moderate or severe poisoning after accidental exposure and to identify patterns of paediatric plant exposures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human exposure data on accidental exposures provided by two German poison centres were retrospectively evaluated regarding the number and the routes of exposure...

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most harmful inhaled pollutants. When PM is emitted into the atmosphere, the only possible method for cleaning ambient air is through vegetation acting as biological filters for pollutants. However, in winter periods when the concentration of PM is usually the highest, the efficiency of plants is very low. The aim of this work was therefore to examine the accumulation of PM and selected trace elements (TE) by three species, evergreen coniferous Taxus baccata L. and Pinus nigra Arn...

The combined use of elicitors can be an effective way to increase the production of secondary metabolites (SMs) in plant cell, tissue and organ cultures. This study investigated the effects of a salicylic acid (SA) pretreatment and different glucose levels on the growth, biochemical traits and taxane production in a Taxus baccata callus culture. For this purpose, after a pretreatment with SA (5 μM), three-month-old calli were cultured on B5 medium fortified with different concentrations of glucose (0, 0...

The microbial fermentation is considered as the potential source for large-scale production of paclitaxel. Since co-cultivation/mixed fermentation strategy has been reported as a yield enhancement strategy for paclitaxel production, investigation of fungal endophyte response to plant culture medium, plant cell extract (CE) and medium filtrate (MF) of plant cell suspension culture in terms of growth and paclitaxel production is interesting. In this study, 35 endophytic fungi were isolated from Taxus baccata and Corylus avellana grown in Iran...

In this report we describe a first suicide case in Serbia related to ingestion of Taxus baccata leaves. A 30-year old woman was found dead, and the green plant material in a plastic bag was found near her bed. Autopsy revealed dark green needle-like leaves in the stomach, similar to that contained in the plastic bag, and both were botanically identified as Taxus baccata, also known as yew. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 3,5-dimethoxyphenol (3,5-DMP) as toxicological evidence for the ingestion of yew leaves, was detected in biological samples...

In dioecious woody plants, females often make a greater reproductive effort than male individuals at the cost of lower growth rate. We hypothesized that a greater reproductive effort of female compared with male Taxus baccata individuals would be associated with lower female photochemical capacity and higher activity of antioxidant enzymes. Differences between the genders would change seasonally and would be more remarkable under nutrient deficiency. Electron transport rate (ETRmax ), saturation photosynthetic photon flux corresponding to maximum electron transport rate (PPFsat ), quantum yield of PSII photochemistry at PPFsat (ΦPPFsat ), and chlorophyll a fluorescence and activity of antioxidant enzymes were determined in needles of T...

Global environmental changes are rapidly affecting species' distributions and habitat suitability worldwide, requiring a continuous update of biodiversity status to support effective decisions on conservation policy and management. In this regard, satellite-derived Ecosystem Functional Attributes (EFAs) offer a more integrative and quicker evaluation of ecosystem responses to environmental drivers and changes than climate and structural or compositional landscape attributes. Thus, EFAs may hold advantages as predictors in Species Distribution Models (SDMs) and for implementing multi-scale species monitoring programs...

Background and Aims: Dispersal is crucial due to its direct impact on dynamics of a species' distribution as well as having a role in shaping adaptive potential through gene flow. In plants forming scarce and small populations, knowledge about the dispersal process is required to assess the potential for colonizing new habitats and connectivity of present and future populations. This study aimed to assess dispersal potential in Taxus baccata, a dioecious gymnosperm tree with a wide but highly fragmented distribution...

We provide novel genomic resources for Taxus baccata in the form of a reference transcriptome, SSR and SNP markers, and orthologous single-copy genes, useful for phylogenomic and population genomic applications. English yew (T. baccata) is the only European representative of the Taxaceae family, a conifer group originated in the Jurassic period. The wide extent of environmental heterogeneity within the species' range, together with its long presence in Europe, make English yew an ideal species to investigate adaptive evolution in conifers...

Docetaxel (DTX) is an antineoplastic agent of the second generation of the taxoid family. It is a semi-synthetic drug prepared from a precursor extracted of the plant Taxus baccata. The commercial formulation of DTX, Taxotere®, employs the surfactant polysorbate 80, due to the low water solubility of the drug, causing several side effects. Therefore, there is a need to develop delivery systems to reduce the side effects of DTX. In addition, this drug has been qualitative and quantitatively analyzed in pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples...

INTRODUCTION: Taxus baccata L. is an evergreen conifer whose plant parts are cardiotoxic. Only the red arils of the berries are described as non-toxic and taxane-free. OBJECTIVE: Extraction and HPLC-MS/MS methods were developed for the investigation of the Taxus compounds 3,5-dimethoxyphenol, 10-deacetylbaccatin III, baccatin III, cephalomannine, taxol A and taxinine M in the red arils of the yew berries. METHODOLOGY: A liquid-liquid extraction method for the red arils of the fruits from three yews were developed...

Taxol is currently a valuable anticancer drug; however, the accumulated mixture of taxoids can vary greatly among Taxus species. So far, there is very little genomic information for the genus Taxus, except for Taxus baccata. Transcriptome analysis is a powerful approach to explore the different regulatory mechanisms underlying the taxoid biosynthesis pathway in Taxus species. First, we quantified the variation in the taxoid contents between Taxus media and Taxus mairei. The contents of paclitaxel and 10-deacetylpaclitaxel in T...

INTRODUCTION: Yew plants are evergreen shrubs which are widely spread throughout the northern hemisphere. Taxane alkaloid derivatives, mainly taxine B, represent the main toxins of Taxus baccata and are highly cardiotoxic. Due to the lack of randomized clinical trials, case reports on accidental or suicidal yew intoxications build the only source of knowledge of clinical treatment options. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a suicidal yew ingestion admitted to our hospital under prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to pulseless electrical activity...

The endophytic Trichoderma atroviridae UB-LMA was isolated as a symbiont of Taxus baccata and analyzed for its antimicrobial activity. By applying an original approach consisting of solid-state cultivation coupled with solid-phase extraction, a new methyl (R,E)-3-(1-hydroxy-4-oxocyclopent-2-en-1-yl)-acrylate derivative named EA-2801 (1) was isolated together with the previously reported isonitrin A and dermadin methyl ester. The chemical structure of 1 was determined by NMR and MS. Compound 1 showed antimicrobial activity against a panel of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria...

BACKGROUND: The yew (Taxus baccata) is a common evergreen tree containing the toxin taxine B. Between 42 and 91 g of yew leaf is lethal to a 70-kg adult. The objective of this article is to present an overview of findings in fatal yew intoxications. METHODS: A search using MeSH terms was performed in PubMed for yew intoxications in the period between January 1960 and August of 2016. RESULTS: We describe a total of 22 cases. Fatal intoxications can be divided into intoxications by leaves, by pulp, by bark and by yew tea...

Conifers contain P450 enzymes from the CYP79 family that are involved in cyanogenic glycoside biosynthesis. Cyanogenic glycosides are secondary plant compounds that are widespread in the plant kingdom. Their biosynthesis starts with the conversion of aromatic or aliphatic amino acids into their respective aldoximes, catalysed by N-hydroxylating cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP) of the CYP79 family. While CYP79s are well known in angiosperms, their occurrence in gymnosperms and other plant divisions containing cyanogenic glycoside-producing plants has not been reported so far...

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to describe the management of a case of life-threatening yew (Taxus baccata) intoxication. BACKGROUND: The needles of the yew tree contain highly cardiotoxic taxines. Intoxication with taxines, typically as part of suicide attempts, may lead to potentially lethal arrhythmias which often require prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other supportive measures. No specific therapy has been described. In some cases, extracorporeal life support has been used...

INTRODUCTION: European yew (Taxus baccata) is a plant known to man for centuries as it produces many interesting and important metabolites. These chemical compounds were repeatedly analysed by various analytical techniques, but none of the methods used so far allowed the localisation of the chemical compounds within the tissue and also correlation between plant morphology and its biochemistry. OBJECTIVE: Visualisation of the spatial distribution of yew metabolites with nanoparticle-based mass spectrometry imaging...

CONTEXT: Yew intoxication has been known for many years; high dose ingestion of Taxus baccata leads to cardiac toxicity mediated by calcium and sodium channel blocking properties. We present a case report of a patient who attempted suicide after T. baccata ingestion, causing refractory cardiogenic shock requiring temporary circulatory assistance by veno-arterial extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO). CASE DETAILS: A 28-year-old man was admitted to the critical care unit of a university hospital for arrhythmia after ingestion of self-made T...

Taxol or paclitaxel, an approved drug by the Food and Drug Administration, is being used for the treatment of human cancers. This study aimed to isolate and determine different species of native endophytic fungi from Iranian Taxus baccata (yew) plants located in the northern forests of Iran. To do so, a novel molecular screening approach was performed for 50 isolated endophytic fungi through amplification of exon No. 1 of taxadine synthase as a key gene in taxol production pathway. We used effective colony-polymerase chain reaction technique for rapid screening of potent taxol-producing fungi instead of genomic DNA extraction...