Science, Space and Technology News 2024
University at Buffalo researchers have created what they say is the highest quality reference genome to date of the world’s most popular coffee species, Arabica. Credit: University at Buffaloresearchers have decoded Arabica coffee’s genome, tracing its origins back over 600,000 years and outlining its genetic challenges and climatic adaptations. This research provides insights into breeding more resilient Arabica varieties.
“We’ve used genomic information in plants alive today to go back in time and paint the most accurate picture possible of Arabica’s long history, as well as determine how modern cultivated varieties are related to each other,” says the study’s co-corresponding author, Victor Albert, PhD, Empire Innovation Professor in the UB Department of Biological Sciences, within the College of Arts and Sciences.
The models show three population bottlenecks during Arabica’s history, with the oldest happening some 29,000 generations — or 610,000 years — ago. This suggests Arabica formed sometime before that, anywhere from 610,000 to 1 million years ago, researchers say. That would align with evidence that coffee cultivation may have started principally in Yemen, around the 15th century. Indian monk Baba Budan is believed to have smuggled the fabled “seven seeds” out of Yemen around 1600, establishing Indian Arabica cultivars and setting the stage for coffee’s global reach today.
During this same time, around 30,000 years ago, the wild varieties and the varieties that would eventually become cultivated by humans split from each other. The Timor variety formed in Southeast Asia as a spontaneous hybrid between Arabica and one of its parents,. Also known as Robusta and used primarily for instant coffee, this species is more resistant to disease than Arabica“Thus, when Robusta hybridized itself back into Arabica on Timor, it brought some of its pathogen defense genes along with it,” says Albert, who also co-led
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Silver Sleuths Trace Ancient English Coins to Byzantine RootsNew technique allows historians to more closely examine medieval money’s chemical composition.
Read more »
Wilder World on Epic Games Store: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets the Future of GamingExplore the revolutionary Wilder World on the Epic Games Store, a next-gen MMO metaverse set in the expansive city of Wiami.
Read more »
Why America's Future Is Bound to Taiwan's FutureOur message to House leadership must be clear: The time to pass President Joe Biden's supplemental request is now.
Read more »
Future and Metro Boomin Perform at Future & Friends' One Big Party TourFuture and Metro Boomin perform during Future & Friends' One Big Party Tour at State Farm Arena on Jan. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. This week's music releases include Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, and Future and Metro Boomin.
Read more »
Biden returns to his Scranton, Pa., roots to pitch tax plan in critical 2024 swing stateBiden plans to spend Tuesday night in Scranton before continuing to Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. He then goes back to the White House, only to return to…
Read more »
Oakland Roots soccer club urges Alameda County and Oakland to seal lease dealsThe Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to put up for auction their share of the Malibu lot adjacent to the Oakland Coliseum, where the Oakland Roots Soccer Club hopes to build a pop-up soccer stadium in the future.
Read more »