Decoding the genome: why we love so much coffee – Why Doctor?

RICHARD B. LEVINE / NEWSCOM / SIPA

mocha, cappuccino, espresso, short, elongated … coffee exists in various forms all over the world . Each country is reappropriated into a single genre. But if this drink is also popular is because its flavors and its components are very rich. This beverage with many virtues is even composed of a gene pool of 126 different species. Scientists decrypted one of its first genomes. Their work is published in the journal Science .

More varieties
Lashermes Philippe, director of research at the French Research Institute Development (IRD), a process with other colleagues abroad, genetic decoding of robusta, also known on the name of Coffea anaphora .. This genome, with more than 25,000 different genes, was chosen for its medium size and because it contains homozygotes, two identical sets from 11 pairs of chromosomes.
One objective of this study is to determine why our taste buds are also sensitive to coffee flavors .
“By analyzing the coffee genome and specific to the bean genes, we have determined so that the coffee is special. This sequencing will allow better use of the high genetic diversity of the coffee and thus develop varieties more in line with consumer demand, “says Philippe Lashermes.

Fight against parasites
The quality of the coffee beans can be improved. These new varieties will also resist parasites of coffee diseases. This is the case of leaf rust caused by a fungus. This parasite is devastating plantations in Central America, a region where an outbreak of leaf rust has been raging since 2012.

The researchers sequenced the genome of the coffee also allow a better understanding of the precise functions of specific genes coffee and to better understand the operation of the plant.