麻豆淫院

The vast majority of coffee grown around the world consists of only two species: arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta (Coffea canephora). The dependence on only these two species of coffee is proving to be a challenge in the face of climate change. As temperatures rise and weather becomes more unpredictable, coffee farmers all over the world are having producing one of the world's favorite drinks.

In order to protect the livelihood of coffee farmers and to keep coffee from becoming a rare (and much more expensive) delicacy, new avenues of coffee production must be explored. One such avenue is finding alternative coffee species that fare better in warmer temperatures, drought or erratic weather conditions.

A new genetic study on the coffee species liberica (Coffea liberica), in Nature Plants, has found that liberica is actually three distinct species with unique genetic, morphological, and climate adaptations that might offer more climate-resilient alternatives to arabica and robusta coffee.

While some farmers are already producing Liberica coffee in places like Uganda, South Sudan, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Pacific, this accounts for less than 1% of total coffee production, and there has been confusion about the species boundaries and nomenclature.

The study authors explain, "The taxonomic delimitation and identification of C. liberica continues to confound researchers and coffee value-chain stakeholders, with inconsistent and confusing use of scientific and vernacular names in published research, agriculture and the media. The current consensus of taxonomic and systematic study is that C. liberica is a single species, divided into two botanical varieties: var. liberica and var. dewevrei."

However, when the researchers conducted genetic sequencing of Liberica, using 353 nuclear genes from 55 accessions and combined genomic data with morphological measurements and geographic distribution mapping, they distinguished three separate species: C. liberica (Liberica), C. dewevrei (excelsa) and C. klainei.

More importantly, the three species exhibit a range of climate tolerances, with C. dewevrei being more drought-tolerant and adapted to lower rainfall than C. liberica and C. liberica possibly being better adapted to higher precipitation seasonality and longer dry seasons at low elevations.

The study authors write, "Both species are likely to include populations with adaptations to regional climate differences, other abiotic factors (for example, soil), and various biotic interactions (for example, pest and disease incidence and resistance). This may particularly be the case for C. dewevrei, which has a large natural distribution range across tropical Central Africa.

"Importantly, Liberica and excelsa hold substantial potential for developing coffee farming in areas that are unsuitable for arabica or robusta, particularly those at low elevations in hotter and wetter climates."

More research is needed on C. klainei, which is less well known and undersampled, but it may offer additional opportunities as an alternative to arabica and robusta. Field trials are also needed to confirm climate adaptation traits in C. dewevrei and C. liberica. However, these species offer possible alternatives, as well as new opportunities for coffee breeding programs to help secure future coffee supplies.

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