You might call it a cup of Joe, java, mud, brew, mocha, or your morning jolt. Coffee undoubtedly is a big part of global culture, and the kind made from the Arabica bean is the most appreciated by coffee drinkers.
\nResearchers now have unlocked the genome of the Arabica species and traced its origins to a natural mating between two other coffee species an estimated 610,000 to one million years ago in the forests of Ethiopia. That makes this species older than our own species Homo sapiens, which arose in Africa about 300,000 years ago.
\nThe researchers sequenced the genomes of 39 Arabica varieties, including a specimen from the 18th century, to create the highest quality genome to date of this species, whose scientific name is Coffea arabica. They also uncovered a specific region of the genome that may be pivotal for breeding or genetically engineering disease resistance.
\n\u201cArabica is one of the world\u2019s premier commodity crops, taking up a large part of the agricultural economies of countries in which it is grown,\u201d said plant evolutionary biologist Victor Albert of the University at Buffalo in New York, one of the leaders of the study published this week in the journal Nature Genetics.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an important part of local small stakeholder subsistence, not just farmed and exploited by major companies. Coffee is a rich source of antioxidants, and of course, caffeine \u2013 which helps keep me and the rest of the world awake,\u201d Albert added.
\nThe research showed that Arabica\u2019s population rose and fell over the millennia as the climate warmed and cooled. It was first cultivated by people in Ethiopia and Yemen, and then spread around the world.
\n\u201cCoffee and humankind are closely related throughout history. In many producing countries, the Arabica coffee represents more than a crop, it is part of the culture and tradition,\u201d said Patrick Descombes, a genomics senior expert at Nestl\u00e9 Research and lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), another of the study leaders.
\nArabica was found to have low genetic diversity due to a history of inbreeding and small population size. The species, susceptible to pests and diseases, can be cultivated in a limited number of locales where climate conditions are favorable and disease threats are lower.
\nThe research \u201cpaves the way to new breeding approaches in coffee, which will ultimately lead to development of new varieties with improved resistance to diseases, climate changes, and with new cup (flavor) qualities,\u201d Descombes said.
\nCoffee is one of the world\u2019s most widely consumed beverages \u2013 an estimated 2.25 billion cups of it is consumed daily \u2013 as well as one of the most traded commodities. Arabica represents the majority of the world\u2019s coffee production.
\nArabica formed, the researchers said, as a natural hybridization between two parent species \u2013 Coffea canephora and Coffea eugenioides. The canephora species is called Robusta coffee and its genome was sequenced in 2014.
\nRobusta is commonly used in instant coffee, while Arabica is considered to have a superior flavor, generally known for a milder and smoother taste. The Robusta species is indigenous to the forests of equatorial Africa.
\n\u201cRobusta is also known because it is quite resistant to main coffee pests and diseases \u2013 hence its name Robusta, for robust,\u201d Descombes said.
\nThe eugenioides species grows in high altitudes in Kenya.
\nThe 18th century specimen sequenced in the study was from a sample stored in London that had been used by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus to name the coffea species.
\n\u201cWe were able to sequence its genome, and in fact we found that it was not particularly closely related to varieties in cultivation today,\u201d Albert said.
\n(Reuters)coffee. coffee, Arabica species, genome<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coffee made from the Arabica bean is the most appreciated by coffee drinkers. Researchers have unlocked the genome of the Arabica species, tracing its origins to a natural mating between two other coffee species in Ethiopia. Arabica has low genetic diversity due to inbreeding and small population size. Arabica represents the majority of the world’s coffee production and is known for its superior flavor compared to Robusta coffee. Arabica was found to have formed as a natural hybridization between Coffea canephora and Coffea eugenioides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,589,6785,6782,2978,33,5732,303,3818,6783,3010,3287,6786,658,3940,148,450,185,1193,393,5244,885,864,6784,6074,720,1682,2843,18,685],"class_list":["post-8530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-africa","tag-arabica-species","tag-coffee","tag-coffee-production","tag-companies","tag-conditions","tag-culture","tag-development","tag-ethiopia","tag-flavor","tag-forests","tag-genome","tag-history","tag-leaders","tag-local","tag-london","tag-main","tag-nature","tag-new-york","tag-origins","tag-popular-on-web","tag-population","tag-prehistory","tag-research","tag-rest","tag-technology","tag-tradition","tag-world","tag-yemen"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n