Christophe Montagnon

RD2 Vision

The coffee species Coffea arabica is facing numerous challenges regarding climate change, pests and disease pressure. Improved varieties will be part of the solution. Making optimal use of the scarce genetic diversity of the species is hence essential. In this paper, we present the first study of C. arabica genetic diversity covering its complete n...

While Ethiopia and South Sudan are the native habitats for Coffea arabica, Yemen is considered an important domestication center for this coffee species as most Arabica coffee grown around the world can be traced back to Yemen. Furthermore, climatic conditions in Yemen are hot and extremely dry. As such, Yemeni coffee trees likely have genetic meri...

Robusta coffee (Coffea Canephora) is an important source of income and employment, contributing significantly to the economies of many developing countries. This species is split into two genetic groups: Guinean and Congolese. Côte-d’Ivoire is the primary diversification center of the Guinean pool, which offers great potential for genetic improveme...

Description. Coffee cultivation plays an important economic and social role in Côte d'Ivoire. Among the dozens of Coffea species, only Coffea canephora, also known as robusta, is grown in the country. The genetic improvement of this species has been the subject of a selection program set up by the National Center for Agronomic Research (CNRA). This...

Cultivated Arabica coffee outside Ethiopia is plagued by low genetic diversity, compromising disease resistance, climate resiliency and sensory potential. Access to the wider genetic diversity of this species may circumvent some of these problems. In addition to Ethiopia, South Sudan has been postulated as a center of origin for Arabica coffee, but...

Cultivated Arabica coffee outside Ethiopia is plagued by low genetic diversity, compromising disease resistance, climate resiliency and sensory potential. Access to the wider genetic diversity of this species may circumvent some of these problems. In addition to Ethiopia, South Sudan has been postulated as a center of origin for Arabica coffee, but...

Canephora coffee is an important source of income and employment, contributing significantly to the economies of many developing countries. This species is split into two genetic groups: Guinean and Congolese. Côte-d’Ivoire is the primary diversification center of the Guinean pool, which offers great potential for genetic improvement. However, gene...

Hemileia vastatrix is the most important fungal pathogen of coffee and the causal agent of recurrent disease epidemics that have invaded nearly every coffee-growing region in the world. The development of coffee varieties resistant to H. vastatrix requires fundamental understanding of the biology of the fungus. However, the complete life cycle of H...

Whilst it is established that almost all cultivated coffee (Coffea arabica L.) varieties originated in Yemen after some coffee seeds were introduced into Yemen from neighboring Ethiopia, the actual coffee genetic diversity in Yemen and its significance to the coffee world had never been explored. We observed five genetic clusters. The first cluster...

Background Locating the optimal varieties for coffee cultivation is increasingly considered a key condition for sustainable production and marketing. Variety performance varies when it comes to susceptibility to coffee leaf rust and other diseases, adaptation to climate change and high cup quality for specialty markets. But because of poor organiza...

The genome of the allotetraploid species Coffea arabica L. was sequenced to assemble independently the two component subgenomes (putatively deriving from C. canephora and C. eugenioides) and to perform a genome-wide analysis of the genetic diversity in cultivated coffee germplasm and in wild populations growing in the center of origin of the specie...

Coffee plays a significant economic role globally and serves as a major source of foreign earnings in many producing countries. Despite challenges, world coffee production has grown steadily over the past 50 years, though it will be difficult to maintain this trend due to continued rise in production costs, as well as problems related to negative i...

Collections of genetic resources are key mechanisms to reduce crop vulnerability resulting from genetic erosion and uniformity, and to supply crop breeding and research programs with novel traits and underlying genes to satisfy evolving demands. For many crops, global crop conservation strategies have provided opportunities to review the history of...

Coffee plays a significant economic role globally as well as serving as a major source of foreign earnings in many producing countries. Produced in about 80 countries (Musoli et al. 2009), an estimated 125 million people in Latin America, Africa and Asia depend on it for their livelihoods (Osorio 2002). Despite challenges, world coffee production h...

Background The coffee species Coffea canephora is commercially identified as “Conilon” when produced in Brazil, or “Robusta” when produced elsewhere in the world. It represents approximately 40 % of coffee production worldwide. While the genetic diversity of wild C. canephora has been well studied in the past, only few studies have addressed the ge...

Cultivation of Coffea arabica is highly sensitive to and has been shown to be negatively impacted by progressive climatic changes. Previous research contributed little to support forward-looking adaptation. Agro-ecological zoning is a common tool to identify homolo-gous environments and prioritize research. We demonstrate here a pragmatic approach...

High-throughput metabolic phenotyping is a challenge, but it provides an alternative and comprehensive access to the rapid and accurate characterization of plants. In addition to the technical issues of obtaining quantitative data of plenty of metabolic traits from numerous samples, a suitable data processing and statistical evaluation strategy mus...

High-throughput metabolic phenotyping is a challenge, but it provides an alternative and comprehensive access to the rapid and accurate characterization of plants. In addition to the technical issues of obtaining quantitative data of plenty of metabolic traits from numerous samples, a suitable data processing and statistical evaluation strategy mus...

Coffee Coffea canephora Pierre genetic improvement: Acquired knowledge, strategies and perspectives Coffea canephora coffee varietal improvement stands as a huge challenge towards better productivity and hence better income for producers. Opportunities are numerous : the genetic diversity of the species is well documented, genetic parameters are we...

Creation and dissemination of Arabica coffee varieties: What varietal innovations? Over 80 % of all Coffea arabica - a species of African origin - is produced in Latin America. The gene pool of C. arabica, which was introduced in Latin America in the 19th century, includes only two relatively similar varieties (Bourbon and Typica). Despite this ver...

Of all the possible micropropagation techniques, vegetative propagation by somatic embryogenesis is by far the most promising one for the rapid, large-scale dissemination of elite individuals. Yet, to date, examples of somatic embryogenesis processes applied at an industrial scale are very few and far between. There are many complications. They usu...

In line with the focus on specialty coffee, we will concentrate on the breeding of Coffea arabica. Contrary to what many may believe, breeding for coffee quality is a relatively new initiative. The challenges and opportunities that breeders face when selecting varieties for high quality are discussed. will mention Robusta and Arabica. This confusio...

Coffea arabica F1 hybrids derived from crosses between wild Sudan-Ethiopian and American cultivars and propagated by somatic embryogenesis have been obtained in Central America. These new hybrids considerably enhanced the genetic diversity of coffee in the region. We conducted 15 trials to assess whether using hybrids represents substantial genetic...

In higher plants, the inhibition of photosynthetic capacity under drought is attributable to stomatal and non-stomatal (i.e., photochemical and biochemical) effects. In particular, a disruption of photosynthetic metabolism and Rubisco regulation can be observed. Several studies reported reduced expression of the RBCS genes, which encode the Rubisco...

Coffea canephora breeding requires combining sustainable productivity with improved technological and cup quality characteristics. Beverage quality is a complex and subjective trait, and breeding for this trait is time consuming and depends on knowledge of the genetics of its components. A highly variable C. canephora progeny resulting from an intr...

The physical characteristics of wood are not usually taken into account when breeding perennial species grown for their fruits or seeds. In the coffee tree, stem breakage during harvesting and lodging during the growth period are major defects in some cultivars. Such defects are linked to certain wood physical and mechanical properties, such as den...

In perennial crops like coffee, genetic improvement efficiency is limited by several factors. These include determining the acceptable minimum observation period for yield traits, and also variation of the traits over time, in order to develop breeding objectives that incorporate stability and persistence of the desired traits. Yield data from a tr...

The collection of Cola nitida in Côte d’Ivoire was previously classified, based on isozyme markers, into three groups named A, B and C, based on isozymic differences. In this study, morphological traits and several yield components as well as genotypic and phenotypic variabilities for vigour were investigated in groups A and B. We found that group...

The collection of Cola nitida in Côte d'Ivoire was previously classified, based on isozyme markers, into three groups named A, B and C, based on isozymic differences. In this study, morphological traits and several yield components as well as genotypic and phenotypic variabilities for vigour were investigated in groups A and B. We found that group...

The Libusta (Coffea canephora P. × C. liberica B.) programme initiated in the seventies in Côte d'Ivoire aims at improving the quality of coffee grown in low altitudes, with a yield comparable to current commercial C. canephora clones. The second generation of back-crosses to the C. canephora (CAN) parent, BC2, are now likely to be commercially exp...

Coffea canephora Pierre breeding in Côte d’Ivoire is based on indirect reciprocal recurrent selection (RRSi) using the Congolese and Guinean populations. In practice, the genotypes of each population (78 Congolese genotypes and 100 Guinean genotypes) are tested with several testers from the reciprocal population: two Guinean and three Congolese tes...

A factorial crossing scheme of Cofflea canephora (two parents from the Congolese group crossed to 14 parents of the Guinean group) was used to evaluate genetic parameters of several biochemical compounds, bean weight and crop outturn (ration of dry bean weight 10 fresh berry weight). For most characters studied, additive genetic effects were prepon...

Yield capacity is a target trait for selection of agronomically desirable lines; it is preferred to simple yields recorded over different harvests. Yield capacity is derived using certain architectural parameters used to measure the components of yield capacity. Observation protocols for describing architecture and yield capacity were applied to si...

Coffee quality, in the present context of overproduction worldwide, has to be considered as a main selection criterion for coffee improvement. After a definition of quality, and an overview of the non genetic factors affecting its variation, this review focuses on the genetic factors involved in the control of coffee quality variation. Regarding th...

More than twenty million rural families in the intertropical zone earn a living directly from coffee. Their standard of living depends on world prices, which are partly fixed by supply and demand. Towards the end of the 1990s, whilst demand was stagnating, supplies were increasing consi-derably. The arrival of Vietnam, whose production was negligib...

The first bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) was constructed, with the aim of developing molecular resources to study the genome structure and evolution of this perennial crop. Clone 126, which is highly productive and confers good technological and organoleptic qualities of beverage, was chosen for d...

A pluriannual field trial of transgenic clones of Coffea canephora (the Robusta coffee tree) transformed for resistance to the lepidopteran coffee leaf miner Leucoptera coffeella was installed in French Guiana. Fifty-eight transformed clones produced by transformation of the C. canephora clone 126 were planted. They were harbouring the pEF1α consti...

Some continuous quantitative traits such as yield are not always normally distributed. This article proposes an underlying normal distribution—called the equivalent normal distribution—to help analyze and interpret the distribution of such data. The mean and standard deviation of this distribution are estimated through the regression of the theoret...

Eleven mating designs, 6 top-crosses and 5 North Carolina II, were used to estimate narrow sense, broad sense and within-cross heritability of Coffea canephora yield in Côte d'Ivoire. The objective was to predict achievable genetic gains according to different breeding strategies. Narrow sense, broad sense, family and within-cross heritabilities we...

A method developed in coffee tree breeding to assess family competitioneffects (partner effects) in comparative variety trials was applied to thecocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.). The study was conducted in ahybrid comparative trial planted in French Guiana, involving twelve familiesof 50 trees in a totally randomized single-tree plot design, at a de...

The physical characteristics of wood are not usually taken into account in the genetic improvement of perennial species cultivated for their fruits or seeds. Yet in coffee trees, stem breakage during harvesting, or lodging during their development are major defects in some cultivars. Such defects are linked to certain mechanical properties of the w...

A new method is proposed for the assessment of competition in clonal trials with completely randomized single-tree plots, without needing to choose a covariable a priori linked to competition. This method is applied to a coffee clonal trial planted in a completely randomized single-tree plot design located in Côte d'Ivoire. Microenvironmental effec...

Genetic improvement of tree crops cultivated for their fruits or seeds does not usually take into account the physical properties of their wood. Yet, wood breakage in coffee trees during harvests or lodging are major defects in some cultivars. Such defects are linked to certain physical properties of the wood, such as elasticity, which is character...

A multi-site clonal trial comprising 16 clones and 9 locations in the Ivory Coast was used to study clone-location interactions for Coffea canephora yield. In addition to a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), ecovalences and linear regression of clones at selected sites and the Nassar and Huhn test were used. Certain interactions were detected, e...

Among the initiatives aimed at revitalizing coffee growing in Guinea, the project launched by the Caisse francaise de developpement set out to replace old coffee plantings with improved material. To satisfy the project's requirements, the Institut de la recherche agronomique de Guinee embarked upon a coffee research programme in 1990. This article...

Breeding of the allogamous Coffea canephora species in Côte d'Ivoire is based, from 1984 onward, on a reciprocal recurrent selection scheme exploiting the good performance of crosses between two genetically distinct populations (‘Guinean’ and ‘Congolese’). Results are presented here on intergroup cross progenies evaluated on individual plant basis...

Eighteen different morphological and agronomical traits observed in a field collection of 148 accessions of Coffea arabica were analyzed using multivariate analysis. For the first time, a clear structure is observed within this species with the identification of two main groups. Accessions of group 1 have a more erect branching habit, narrower leav...

This study evaluated variation between different lowland coffee genotypes in relation to variation due to processing, locality and harvesting date. Coffee genotypes tested were commercial clones, selections and parental clones used in breeding of Coffea canephora in Côte d'Ivoire as well as some Congusta clones (C. canephora x Coffea congensis). In...

Two breeding populations have been identified with Coffea canephora, based on geographical and genetic differences: the Guinean group from West Africa and the Congolese group from central Africa. A reciprocal recurrent selection programme based on these groups was initiated in Côte d'Ivoire in 1984. Genotypes of both groups available in field colle...

The number of individual branches attacked by the scolytid coffee‐twig borer was recorded in 1990 and 1991 in a Coffea canephora clonal trial planted in Côte d'Ivoire in 1988, in a randomized single‐tree plot design. An ANCOVA described by Papadakis (1937), taking the mean of neighbouring trees as the covariable, was used to compare the log transfo...

Genetic parameters were estimated in trials planted in connection with a reciprocal recurrent selection programme applied to Coffea canephora in Côte d'Ivoire. Narrow sense heritability values, estimated from a breakdown of the analysis of variance, were high for architectural characters (0.22 to 0.78) and medium for tree vigour (0.13 to 0.40) and...