Somatic Embryogenesis and Genetic Homogeneity Assessment in Coffea - Recent Approaches

Coffee is one of the most preferred beverages consumed by millions of people throughout the world. It is cultivated in more than 80 countries in tropical and subtropical zones of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and provides livelihood to 125 million people worldwide. Among 125 coffee species known so far, only two coffee species, Coffea arabica (arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (robusta coffee), are commercially cultivated for beverage production. Coffee is a perennial plant and therefore subjected to constant environmental stress. However, during the last few decades, sustainable coffee cultivation has been threatened by unprecedented climate change. This calls for unified efforts, including cutting-edge research and modified management practices. Although conventional breeding efforts have been developed to address some issues, emerging biotechnology research, especially in-vitro propagation technology, could augment the coffee cultivation landscape. Despite the tangible progress made in coffee tissue culture, there were some grey areas, such as the level of somaclonal variation and the genomic changes associated with somatic embryogenesis in coffee, which needs to be addressed imminently. This chapter provides detailed progress on coffee tissue culture and addresses some of the critical issues associated with the genetic homogeneity of tissue culture plants.