Genome-edited Herbicide Tolerant Camelina Shows 5% Increase in Seed Oil Content

Yield10 Bioscience Inc., an agricultural bioscience company, has announced an update on its Camelina line E3902 development program. Camelina line E3902 is developed for the purpose of producing low-carbon feedstock oil for the renewable diesel market in the U.S. and Canada.

The Camelina line E3902 has shown a consistent 5% increase in seed oil content as a percentage of seed weight over control plants. Together with yield and oil content traits for Camelina, Yield10 has also deployed herbicide tolerance gene traits to protect Camelina from weeds and build grower confidence in the crop. In 2021 Yield10 began a program to introduce herbicide tolerance traits into Camelina, with initial herbicide tolerant Camelina line E3902 plants now having been produced for field testing. In 2022, Yield10 will continue to expand Camelina line E3092 seed scale up activities, and advance field testing of multiple candidate herbicide tolerant Camelina E3902 lines in the pipeline.

Yield10 researchers have produced Camelina line E3902 using CRISPR genome editing to modify three genes involved in oil biosynthesis and oil turnover in Camelina. The USDA-APHIS's Biotechnology Regulatory Services has confirmed that E3902 is not a regulated article under 7 CFR Part 340 regulations. In addition, CONABIA, the Argentine Biosafety Commission, has determined that E3902 is similar to conventionally bred Camelina varieties and thus is not regulated under the biotechnology resolution No. 763/11 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Argentina.

For more details, read the press release from Yield10 Bioscience.