Genetic resources and breeding of coffee (Coffea spp.)

Abstract

Coffee is an important agricultural export commodity in many Asian, African and Latin American countries. It provides a livelihood for more than 125 million people worldwide. The genus Coffea comprises more than 125 species of which only 2 species Coffea arabica (arabica coffee) and C. canephora (robusta coffee) are commercially cultivated for beverage production. Climate change presents unprecedented challenges to sustainable coffee cultivation on a global scale. Besides, both arabica and robusta coffee are subjected to biotic and abiotic stress conditions that limit their production and productivity. Although conventional breeding approaches are followed to attenuate some of these problems, they were slow and time-consuming. Furthermore, arabica coffee has a narrow genetic base and needs to be addressed immediately by incorporating diverse germplasm with potential agronomic values, using focused breeding programs. In both arabica and robusta, the full potential of germplasm has not been exploited. Recent progress in the biotechnological field particularly on molecular markers and new generation sequencing platform hold great promise to discover new genes and accelerate coffee breeding programs. The progress achieved in coffee transgenic technology also has unparalleled opportunities to develop new cultivars with improved agronomic traits. Recent progress in gene editing techniques has a significant impact on the genetic improvement of coffee. This chapter provides current and innovative information about coffee’s origin and distribution, genetic resource diversity and conventional breeding strategies and application. Current advances in the field of tissue culture, genetic transformation, gene editing and molecular breeding are also discussed.