Before the biotechnological production of the anticancer compound taxol can be improved, the mechanism that regulates its biosynthetic pathway needs to be further understood. In this paper we have studied the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) and vanadyl sulphate (VS) on the taxane pattern and transcript profile of two key genes involved in taxol biosynthesis, txs and bapt, in a selected Taxus baccata cell line. Our results showed that MeJ significantly activated both taxol and baccatin III production (4- and 3.6-fold, respectively), whereas VS only enhanced taxol production (also 4-fold). At the same time, MeJ treatment clearly increased the expression of the txs and bapt genes but the presence of VS in the medium only increased bapt gene expression.The results suggest that the elicitation conditions assayed are good strategies to improve taxol production, and that the elicitors have different and probably interfering mechanisms of action in taxol biosynthesis. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a relationship between the expression of the txs and bapt genes and the taxane profile has been shown in T. baccata cell cultures.Graphical abstractResearch highlights▶ The elicitors methyl jasmonate (MeJ) and vanadyl sulphate (VS) activate secondary metabolism in plant cell cultures. ▶ In cell cultures of Taxus baccata MeJ significantly activates both taxol and baccatin III production, whereas VS only enhances taxol production. ▶ MeJ treatment increases the expression of the txs and bapt genes but VS only increases bapt gene expression.