(Photo : Reuters)


A team of more than 60 scientists around the world has sequenced the genome of the coffee plant.



They've also discovered the genes for caffeine.



Their findings pinpoint genetic attributes that may help in the development of new coffee varieties with enhanced flavor and caffeine levels, and that are better able to adapt during drought, abundance of pests and plant disease.



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Scientists studied the species Coffea canephora, also known as the Robusta variety.



Robusta makes up 30 percent of the world's coffee produced and is the variety usually used in instant coffee. It's milder and smoother than the Arabica variety.



The researchers, who believe not many studies have been done on caffeine in coffee, said the coffee plant has a variety of enzymes involved in the production of caffeine.



Caffeine enzymes in coffee have evolved independently of the caffeine in tea and chocolate, said the researchers.



"For any agricultural plant, having a genome is a prerequisite for any sort of high technology breeding or molecular modification. Without a genome, we couldn't do any real advanced research on coffee that would allow us to improve it -- not in this day and age," said plant genomist Victor Albert of the University at Buffalo, one of the researchers in the study.



On average, there are around 25,500 genes in the coffee plant responsible for different proteins.



Albert said coffee plants use the caffeine to attract pollinators and, at the same time, prevent herbivorous insects from feeding on the plant's leaves.



When the plant's leaves fall to the ground, caffeine and other substances in the plant leach into the soil and more likely prevent the seed germination of other competitor plants.



With coffee being one of the most valuable commodities in the world, production and export of this agricultural product has become a multibillion-dollar enterprise. More than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed everyday around the world and 8.7 million tons were produced just last year.



"Coffee is as important to everyday early risers as it is to the global economy," said another researcher, Philippe Lashermes, of the French Institute of Research for Development.



The study was published in the journal, Science.

