By Dennis O'Brien


By examining the DNA of cacao trees, Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists and colleagues from confectionery giant Mars, Inc., have traced
the genetic roots of the key ingredient in chocolate.


Cocoa comes from the Theobroma cacao tree, which forms the basis of a
multibillion-dollar U.S. chocolate industry. The seeds are processed into
cocoa beans that are the source of cocoa, cocoa butter and chocolate. But
diseases cost growers an estimated $700 million each year, and scientists
have been looking for ways to produce cacao trees that can resist them.

David Kuhn, a molecular biologist at the ARS Subtropical Horticulture
Research Station in Miami, Fla., and the research team published findings
this fall that are a step toward that goal, shedding light on Theobroma?s
genetic diversity.

The researchers extracted DNA from the leaves of 952 cacao trees maintained
in germplasm collections in Miami, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Costa Rica,
Trinidad and Brazil. The trees were collected by plant explorers over the
past 70 years and came from 12 South American countries.

By looking at patterns among 106 genetic markers, the researchers were able
to pinpoint where cacao has the greatest genetic diversity and where it
likely originated: the upper Amazon basin of Peru.

The researchers also found enough genetic diversity to realign what might be
considered Theobroma?s family tree, breaking it up into 10 major genetic
groups, instead of the commonly accepted three groups.

Kuhn hopes the findings will encourage breeders to increase the diversity of
their cacao tree stocks by crossbreeding among the 10 groups. That would
reduce outbreaks of diseases that penetrate tree fruit, destroy seed-bearing
pods and can cause farmers to lose up to 80 percent of their crop. Breeders
should think about using the entire palette of genetic diversity to improve
cacao breeding programs and avoid certain diseases such as black pod and
witches' broom, according to Kuhn.

The research was published recently in the online, peer-reviewed journal
PLoS One.

ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
www.checkbiotech.org