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Current challenges and genomic advances towards the development resilient coffee genotypes to abiotic stresses

Abstract:

Climate variability and change are among the major drivers of abiotic stresses and the concomitant vulnerability of agricultural production systems. With the advent of systems biology, the analysis of complex crop-environment interactions through integrated high-throughput approaches, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and interactomics, is currently the most assertive strategy to unravel plant development, metabolism, and acclimation capabilities, and to implement genomics-assisted breeding programs towards the production of resilient crops. With the sequencing of the coffee reference genome, the last decade has seen a rapid worldwide progress in establishing genomic tools, entering a new era of coffee functional genomics. New genomic tools offer practical toolkits for high-throughput identification of genes and pathways that are key resources for improving the adaptability of coffee crop to the present and future climate change scenarios, using worldwide genetic resources of Coffea spp. In this review, we summarize the available coffee genomic resources and discuss their use in the development of new (hybrid) varieties with greater ability to cope with environmental abiotic constraints. To ensure sustainable coffee production, stress-tolerant varieties will be critical in maintaining the coffee bean yield and quality.