ClimateCrop Targets Plant Starch Control to Support Crop Growth and Stress Recovery

ClimateCrop is trying to give crops more energy to draw on each day by adjusting the plant signals that regulate starch production. The company reports 10–15% higher daily starch accumulation after modifying one such signal. That result could support faster growth and better recovery from stress, though its effect on harvests will depend on crop, location and season.

Founded in 2021 by Yehuda Borenstein, Erez Eliyahu and Vivekanand Tiwari, the Israeli startup is building on research at the Weizmann Institute that identified proteins involved in plants’ daily starch storage cycle. The company says the technology has been licensed to it. Its approach uses gene editing or other gene modification methods to change a command to one of those proteins, which normally restrains starch production.

Changing a daily energy cycle

Plants capture carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, using sunlight and water to produce sugars. Some of that energy is temporarily stored as starch in leaves. Plants can convert the reserve back into sugars later, including at night and during dry conditions, when growth and recovery may draw on stored resources.

ClimateCrop’s target helps regulate this cycle as light levels fall, while also limiting starch production during daylight. The company says neutralizing the relevant signal increased starch accumulation by 10–15% in its tests. Borenstein’s proposed benefit is cumulative: a plant with more stored energy each day may grow somewhat faster, develop roots sooner and reach soil nutrients earlier. Extra reserves could also help it withstand stress or recover afterward.

Those are potential effects, not a guaranteed yield increase. Borenstein says the system is complex and that plant growth depends on many conditions. He describes yield gains as incremental and says results need to be assessed over extended periods, across different regions and seasons. A change in starch storage may contribute to performance, but the final harvest reflects the crop’s environment and other factors too.

Evidence across crops, with differences expected

ClimateCrop says it has tested the approach in potato, tomato, canola and sorghum, with a similar starch effect in each. It also reports clear evidence of additional starch in bananas, alongside results in potatoes and tomatoes. The company expects the size of any effect to vary between plants. Borenstein suggested that C4 crops, which use a carbon concentrating form of photosynthesis, may respond less than C3 crops, which use the more common form.

The company argues that the target could have broad reach because it is present across vascular plants. That creates a possible path to many crops grown for food, animal feed, fiber and fuel. But a shared genetic target doesn’t mean every crop will show the same response, or that a result in one variety will translate directly to another. Each crop and growing environment will need its own testing.

Borenstein says the targeted adjustment has not produced unintended effects in the company’s work so far. He also argues that photosynthesis is not always operating at full capacity, so it may not be the limiting step for plant performance. Those observations describe the company’s current experience and reasoning; longer trials will be needed to clarify how the modification performs under varied field conditions.

Breeding and field testing will shape the route to growers

ClimateCrop is working with other companies to bring the trait into their crop varieties and conduct field trials. Its business arrangements may vary: breeders could receive a variety and backcross the trait into their own lines, while seed businesses and growers may be partners in other cases. The company says it prefers partners for gene editing because techniques differ from crop to crop.

The trait may not always require a new edit. Borenstein says that, where a sufficiently large collection of plant varieties or mutations is available, teams may find a naturally occurring version of the desired change. ClimateCrop has worked with a company that has access to such collections and says it found the trait occurring naturally in some crops.

The startup says it holds a patent covering modifications to the specific gene involved. It also knows of researchers studying this mechanism and related processes. How the approach develops will depend on the practical work ahead: moving the trait into commercial varieties, measuring performance through field trials, and checking whether added starch leads to useful gains under real growing conditions.

For growers, the most relevant test will be whether the added energy reserve improves crop performance reliably enough across seasons to help manage difficult growing conditions. ClimateCrop’s early results establish a measurable change in starch accumulation; longer trials will show how consistently that change translates into growth, stress recovery and yield.