I gaze at the ever-changing Starbucks menu, flummoxed.
Should I get a skinny caramel macchiato? A java chip frappucino? Or a plain flat white?
The many variations on the coffee theme might suggest a great diversity among the plants behind the drinks, but actually, about 60 percent of coffee is of the Arabica variety. Starbucks uses these beans exclusively, which are grown in only a few places in the world, where pathogens are scarce and climate favorable. Arabica plants are highly vulnerable to many pests and pathogens due to its low genetic diversity, reflecting a long history of inbreeding in small populations.
Now re-sequencing the Arabica genome reveals that nature gave us the much beloved plant – not selective breeding by ancient farmers. A research team from the University at Buffalo relate the refined family history of Coffea arabica in Nature Genetics. "With an estimated production of 10 million metric tons per year, coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world," they write. Nestlé Research funded the project.
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To continue reading, go to DNA Science, where this post first appeared.