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.”
About Renewable Diesel
As part of the energy transition, a substantial increase in
renewable diesel capacity in the United States and Canada is
currently underway, with proposed and funded renewable diesel
facilities having a total capacity of more than 5 billion gallons
of biofuels per year. Renewable diesel expansion has surged due to
its low carbon footprint, federal and local subsidies, and its
ability to be used as a drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel.
Renewable diesel feedstock is supplied mainly from used cooking
oil, animal fats (e.g., tallow), and vegetable oil, with the former
two feedstock sources in short supply due to limited production
capacity. Yield10 therefore expects the increase in renewable
diesel feedstock demand over the next few years to be filled by
vegetable oils, which itself have a global production of only 50
billion gallons per year. Moreover, a third of vegetable oils
produced globally are palm oils, which do not qualify for many
biofuels subsidies because of its high carbon footprint. In
contrast, Camelina’s low carbon footprint, and ability to be grown
as a cover crop on otherwise fallow land, make it an attractive
choice to fill the renewable diesel feedstock supply gap.
Background on C3020Yield10 identified C3020
among four new genetic targets for increasing seed oil content in
crops using its GRAIN (“Gene Ranking Artificial Intelligence
Network”) platform. Yield10 researchers achieved proof of concept
showing that four novel gene targets identified using the GRAIN
platform impact seed development and/or oil content. In greenhouse
testing C3020 produced a 10% increase in seed oil content when
engineered in Camelina. Data obtained from increasing activity of
the other three targets, C3019, C3021, and C3022 indicates these
represent good targets for CRISPR genome-editing.
Background on C3007 Yield10 obtained an
exclusive worldwide license to C3007 from the University of
Missouri in 2018. The protein encoded by C3007, also known as BADC,
is a novel, negative regulator of an essential enzyme acetyl-CoA
carboxylase (ACCase) in fatty acid biosynthesis. Its normal
function slows down oil biosynthesis such that inhibiting BADC has
the effect of allowing more oil biosynthesis to occur. Yield10
modified C3007 using CRISPR genome-editing and has deployed the
trait in Camelina and canola to evaluate its ability to boost oil
content in seed.
About Yield10 Bioscience
Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is an agricultural bioscience company
that is using its differentiated trait gene discovery platform, the
“Trait Factory”, to develop improved Camelina varieties for the
production of proprietary seed products, and to discover high value
genetic traits for the agriculture and food industries. Our goals
are to efficiently establish a high value seed products business
based on developing superior varieties of Camelina to produce
feedstock oils, nutritional oils, and PHA bioplastics, and to
license our yield traits to major seed companies for
commercialization in major row crops, including corn, soybean and
canola. Yield10 is headquartered in Woburn, MA and has an Oilseeds
Center of Excellence in Saskatoon, Canada.
For more information about the company, please visit
www.yield10bio.com, or follow the Company on Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn.
(YTEN-G)
Safe Harbor for
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking
statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future
performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press
release which are not strictly historical, including, without
limitation, statements regarding the Company’s intentions with
regard to plans to conduct further field tests of oil content
traits in Camelina and canola in spring of 2022, the results and
outcome of, and information gathered from, those tests, the ability
to use the results of the tests in future studies or licensing
activities, whether the new traits will create new pathways to
boost oil production in canola and soybean, whether the field tests
will advance the development of the new traits toward
commercialization, whether the new traits have licensing potential
in canola and soybean to support the growing demand for feedstock
oil, expectations with regard to the timing of obtaining results of
the field tests, and our expectations related to the economic value
of oilseed crops and the market for renewable diesel feedstock,
constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated, including the risks and uncertainties detailed in
Yield10 Bioscience's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Yield10 assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information contained in this press release or with
respect to the matters described herein.
Contacts: Yield10 Bioscience:Lynne H. Brum,
(617) 682-4693, LBrum@yield10bio.com
Investor Relations: Bret Shapiro, (561) 479-8566,
brets@coreir.comManaging Director, CORE IR
Media Inquiries: Eric Fischgrund, eric@fischtankpr.com FischTank
PR
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