Comparative sequence analyses indicate that Coffea (Asterids) and Vitis (Rosids) derive from the same paleo-hexaploid ancestral genome.

The complete sequence of Vitis vinifera revealed that the rosid clade derives from a hexaploid ancestor. At present, no analysis of complete genome sequence is available for an asterid, the other large eudicot clade, which includes the economically important species potato, tomato and coffee. To elucidate the genomic history of asterids, we compared the sequence of an 800 kb region of diploid Coffea genome to the orthologous regions of V. vinifera, Populus trichocarpa and Arabidopsis thaliana. We found a very high level of collinearity between around 80 genes of the three rosid species and Coffea. Collinearity comparisons between orthologous and paralogous regions indicates that (1) the Coffea (and consequently all asterids) and rosids share the same hexaploid ancestor; (2) the diploidization process (loss of duplicated and redundant copies from the whole genome duplication) was very advanced in the most recent common ancestor of rosids and asterids. Finally, no additional polyploidization events were detected in the Coffea lineage. Differences in gene loss rates were detected among the three rosid species and linked to the divergence in protein sequences.