Yield10 Bioscience makes quarterly progress in work improving seed yield in canola

The agricultural bioscience company Yield10 Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:YTEN) on Monday reported making progress in its work improving seed yield in canola in the fourth quarter as it prepared for the identification of additional traits for other crops this year.

In Yield10’s 2018 Field Tests, its flagship C3003 yield trait was tested for the first time in canola and the company reported encouraging results.

The trait produced seed yield increases of up to 11% in the best lines of canola tested.  Further testing of the trait is planned on the back of the company’s initial success.

Looking ahead to 2019, CEO Oliver Peoples says the company’s scientists intend to conduct their first field test of the C3004 yield trait in Camelina, an oil seed crop, and will also evaluate CRISPR-Cas9 genome-edited versions of C3007 in canola and another trait C4004 in wheat and rice for the first time.

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“In 2019, we intend to continue building upon our strong reputation as an innovator in crop yield technology by continuing to identify novel crop yield traits for development and building our growing portfolio of traits, all while focusing on activities that will allow us to generate proof points in major crops,” said Peoples in a statement.

This year, the Woburn, Massachusetts company also plans to lend its support to Bayer Crop Science (formerly Monsanto) and Forage Genetics as they conduct testing on Yield10’s traits in soybean and forage sorghum.

“We plan to leverage the data generated across our studies to identify opportunities for revenue generating collaborations with leading players in the agricultural industry,” Peoples said.

In other news, Dr Sherri Brown, a former Monsanto executive, has been tapped as Yield10’s special commercial and technical advisor due to her extensive background in plant science.

In the fourth quarter, Yield10’s revenue jumped to $135,000 from $104,000 in the year-ago quarter. Its net loss also shrunk to $1.86 million from $2.55 million over the same period.

Yield10 Bioscience is an agricultural bioscience company which is developing better seed traits for crops such as canola, soybean, rice, wheat and corn.

Yield10 shares slipped 2.5% to $1.18 in after-hours trade on Monday.

Story by ProactiveInvestors