La Jolla, California
March 6,  2001

Akkadix Corporation, an international plant science discovery company, announced today that a recent article in Nature Biotechnology reported on the use of the Arabidopsis LEAFY and APETELA1 genes in juvenile citrus seedlings to accelerate flowering times. The LEAFY and APETELA1 genes are available from Akkadix for use in most plant species, including citrus trees, under U.S. Patent No.’s 5637,785 and 5,844119 (other patents pending.)

As reported in the article, transgenic citrus plants expressing either gene produced fertile flowers and fruits as early as the first year. Normally, reproductive development of citrus trees is delayed by 6 to 20 years, depending on the species. The inserted early flowering trait was also shown to be stable and inheritable. (Leandro Pena, et.al., Constitutive expression Arabadopsis LEAFY or APETELA1 genes in citrus reduces their generation time, Nature Biotechnology 263-267 (March 2001.)

Dr. Leo Kim, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Akkadix noted: "These results in citrus trees confirm earlier experiments in aspen, rice and a number of other plants, and demonstrate that the LEAFY and APETELA1 genes have applicability across a wide variety of species to dramatically accelerate flowering times."

Dr. Jerry Caulder, Chairman and CEO of Akkadix stated: "Accelerated flowering using LEAFY and APETELA1 is of immense potential value to the agricultural and natural resources industries. This technology has a broad range of applications, including: (i) reduction in the breeding time necessary to produce new varieties; (ii) increased yield in corn and other crops by "earlying-up" high yielding varieties (so that they can be planted in more northerly climates); and (iii) increasing the potential for a second harvesting of a crop (e.g, rice) in the same growing season. We look forward to bringing these, as well as other of our technologies, forward to commercialization. "

Akkadix Corporation is a global plant biotechnology company using gene discovery, functional genomics, bioinformatics, homologous recombination, plant breeding and other technologies for the discovery and delivery of novel plant traits which improve health and safety, increase production, lower costs, help preserve the environment and create new opportunities for clearly defined agricultural products.

Equity funding for Akkadix Corporation has come from venture capital investments by Bay City Capital Fund I, L.P, North American Nutrition and Agribusiness Fund, LP (which is also managed by Bay City Capital, LLC.), and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. Corporate shareholders include Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Forage Genetics, Inc. and Pangene Corporation. For more information about Akkadix, visit Akkadix web site at www.akkadix.com. 

Company news release
N3357