Is the Genetic Integrity of Wild Coffea Canephora From Ivory Coast Threatened by Hybridization With Introduced Coffee Trees From Central Africa?

Abstract Canephora coffee is an important source of income and employment, contributing significantly to the economies of many developing countries. This species is split into two genetic groups: Guinean and Congolese. Côte-d’Ivoire is the primary diversification center of the Guinean pool, which offers great potential for genetic improvement. However, genetic erosion of this group is currently a threat in this country because of the massive introduction of Congolese accessions in the previous decades. In this work, we analyzed the progenies of isolated population of C. canephora composed of a mix of Guinean and Congolese using SNP markers. The analysis is focus on the male parents’ contribution on open pollination progenies. The result shows that the introduction of cultivars from the Congolese gene pool threat the genetic integrity of wild populations of the Guinean gene pool. We recommend that a conservation program be put in place to ensure the entegrity of wild population of C. canephora through in situ or ex situ conservation.