The Sequence of CBB Genome is Published by Cenicafé
-The
published work is peer reviewed, supporting its scientific rigor, and open to
access, which will help better study and understand this insect native to
Africa, present in Colombia since 1988 and considered the main coffee pest in
the world.
-The
CBB penetrates the cherries and reproduces in the bean, causing total loss and,
in many cases, premature fruit drop. In addition, it affects physical quality
of harvest and the drink.
March 22 - 2021 Coffee Geography Magazine
Always at the forefront in the global
industry, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), through the National
Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé), made public for the first time the complete
sequence of the genome (genetic library) of the coffee berry borer (CBB,
Hypothenemus hampei).
An
interdisciplinary team of scientists from Cenicafé, in collaboration with
researchers from Purdue University, USA, published this important advance in
the latest issue of Scientific Reports, an online journal that is part of the
prestigious Nature publishing house.
The
published work is peer reviewed, supporting its scientific rigor, and open to
access, which will help better study and understand this insect native to
Africa, present in Colombia since 1988.
“This
new Cenicafé publication is big words. It’s a true milestone, the result of a
joint effort supported by the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture, through the
coffee genome project. And a sample of the permanent work of the FNC in
research and innovation for the well-being of coffee growers and profitability
of the sector,” the FNC CEO, Roberto Vélez, said.
The
CBB penetrates the cherries and reproduces in the bean, causing total loss and,
in many cases, premature fruit drop. In addition, it affects physical quality
of harvest and the drink.
“The
most modern techniques were used to decipher the information in the chromosomes
of this beetle, specialized in consuming exclusively coffee beans for its
survival and reproduction,” the FNC Chief Technical Officer, Hernando Duque,
explained.
The
complete sequence of the CBB genome, with its 18,765 expressed genes, is
available in the database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI), for access and use by scientists from Colombia and the rest of the
world.
New
tool against the main coffee pest
“The
recently published research is part of the different lines of work that seek
alternatives to reduce impacts of CBB, the main coffee pest in the world, and
one of the great threats to profitability of coffee farming given the current
restrictions for use of insecticides in producing and consumer countries and
potential effects of climate variability,” the Cenicafé Director, Álvaro
Gaitán, said.
The
CBB remains 80% of its life cycle inside the fruits, where the generation of
females is 10 times larger than that of males, making their control very
difficult, even more in the absence of coffee trees with natural resistance to
the insect, which has prevented breeding any resistant variety, as done with
varieties resistant to the rust fungus.
With
Cenicafé’s strategy of delving into the issue, the CBB genome study has made it
possible to characterize its reproduction mechanisms and how the insect looks
for the coffee tree, providing new clues to understand its sexual determination
mechanisms.
It
also opens up the possibility of identifying the complete inventory of genes
responsible for how the CBB is attracted by the coffee tree smell, including
191 responsible for perception and transmission of smells and taste stimuli,
which are activated rather in adult stages (and not in the larvae).
These
findings favor a better understanding of the insect biology and its interaction
with the coffee tree, and open new ways for studying and developing innovative
methods for its management, which have already made it possible to assess pest
control strategies based on interference of the mechanisms for searching fruits
during the insect flight.
Likewise,
the discovery of male-specific genes sheds light on the sex determination
mechanism, in order to modify the reproduction balance in the field.