Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTEN) (“Yield10” or the “Company”), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced that 2021 field test results show that the trait C3020 tested in Camelina and C3007 tested in canola produce increases in seed oil content. Further field testing of these novel oil content traits is planned in spring 2022.
Summary of 2021 Field Test results for C3020 and C3007
C3020: Yield10 tested C3020 Camelina lines for the first time in its 2021 Field Test program. In field testing, the best performing Camelina lines showed an increase in seed oil content of up to 9% as compared to control plants, a result comparable to the 10% increase in oil content produced in greenhouse studies. Yield10 plans to include Camelina C3020 lines in its 2022 field testing program to collect additional oil content and seed yield data after obtaining permits from regulatory agencies.
C3007: The CRISPR genome-edited C3007 trait was field tested in canola for the first time in 2021. The best performing C3007 canola lines showed an increase in seed oil content of approximately 5%. In greenhouse studies, the C3007 canola trait produced an increase in oil content in the range of 5% as well as an increase in seed yield of up to 17%. The collection of seed yield data in the 2021 field tests was challenging due to the warm weather conditions at the site tested. USDA-APHIS has previously determined that Yield10’s canola C3007 lines do not meet the definition of a regulated article under 7CFR part 340.
“Yield10 is developing a leading portfolio of novel traits designed to increase seed oil content in Camelina and major oilseed crops such as soybean and canola,” said Kristi Snell, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. “The data generated in our 2021 field test program show that C3020 and C3007 boost oil content in Camelina and canola, respectively. We believe these traits may represent important new pathways to boost oil production, and their successful deployment would increase the economic value of oilseed crops.”
“There is significant growth projected in the market for vegetable oil with demand driven by significant investments in renewable diesel requiring low-carbon oil feedstocks,” said Oliver Peoples, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. “Yield10 is well-positioned to address this market on two fronts. First, we are developing both spring and winter varieties of Camelina to access acreage with the crop and expand oil production. Second, we are using our GRAIN platform to develop a pipeline of trait gene targets for increasing seed yield and boosting oil content in oilseed crops. Further, we have progressed the non-regulated Camelina line E3902 line to the early commercialization stage. In addition, we also anticipate that some of our traits, including those currently being evaluated by major seed companies under research license agreements, as well as more recent oil traits such as C3007 and C3020, may have licensing potential in canola and soybean to support the growing demand for feedstock oil.”
