Seeking Approaches to Alter Fatty Acid and Oil Content and Composition in Annual Crops for Downstream Industrial Applications

A world leading crop science company is seeking research related to methods of increasing fatty acid or oil production in annual crops (i.e. oil or fat percentage of harvestable unit), or altering the composition of oil types in these plants. Specifically, our client is interested in techniques that can be applied to terrestrial oil crops such as soybean and canola, however research in similar crops is also considered.

Techniques should increase fatty acid or oil content, or change composition to favour particular molecules, or introduce novel molecules with potential downstream industrial applications such as biofuels, food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Approaches of interest

• Native genes and pathways that can be changed via traditional breeding methods or gene editing
• Transgenes that can be introduced in crop plants 
• Research in annual crop plants is preferred however studies in other species or model organisms are of interest providing that the potential application in annual crop plants can be shown

Out of scope

• Genes or pathways of animal origin
• Plant cultivation conditions (e.g. fertilisers) that result in increased oil accumulation
• Altering oil composition in non-terrestrial crops such as algae as a crop is out of scope, however studies involving algae as a model may be of interest

Developmental Stages of Interest

Our client is open to research at a range of developmental stages including gene discovery and mode of action studies, as well as proof of concept validated approaches. Later stage opportunities involving novel approaches are also of interest, provided they are not yet on the market.

Submission Information

Submission of one page, 200-300 word briefs are encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g. relevant publications. Intellectual property status of the research should be included where relevant. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information. 

Opportunity for Collaboration

Our client is open to a range of collaboration scenarios, determined on a case by case basis. Example outcomes include sponsored research, licensing of assets, in-kind contributions, consultancy and mentoring, or developing research into a pre‑competitive collaboration. Submitters are encouraged to outline how their research would be best supported by our client.