Diversity in coffee assessed with SSR markers: structure of the genus Coffea and perspectives for breeding.

The present study shows transferability of microsatellite markers developed in the two cultivated coffee species (Coffea arabica L. and C. canephora Pierre ex Froehn.) to 15 species representing the previously identified main groups of the genus Coffea. Evaluation of the genetic diversity and available resources within Coffea and development of molecular markers transferable across species are important steps for breeding of the two cultivated species. We worked on 15 species with 60 microsatellite markers developed using different strategies (SSR-enriched libraries, BAC libraries, gene sequences). We focused our analysis on 4 species used for commercial or breeding purposes. Our results establish the high transferability of microsatellite markers within Coffea. We show the large amount of diversity available within wild species for breeding applications. Finally we discuss the consequences for future comparative mapping studies and breeding of the two cultivated species.