TITLE:
Flowers Are Evoked to Bring Us Delicious Coffee
AUTHORS:
Paula Cristina da Silva Angelo
KEYWORDS:
Rubiaceae, Café, Biometeorology, Climate, Adaptability
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.15 No.7,
July
15,
2024
ABSTRACT: Coffee is highly appreciated as stimulant. Brazil is the first producer and second consumer in the world. Flower evocation triggered by environmental signals is essential for adaptability and productivity, and despite that it is neglected and barely considered as a part of the reproductive cycle. Aiming to review molecular mechanisms producing phenological responses observed in the fields, orthologs to A. thaliana CO, FLC/FLM, FLT, SOC and VRN genes were identified in silico for C. arabica and its ancestors C. canephora and C. eugenioides. Protein structures and conserved domains, regulatory elements in promoters, and the related literature in both genera were accessed and compared. Hypotheses regarding Coffea spp. orthologs responsiveness to light and temperature signals at the tropics are proposed. Preliminary analysis of phenological data taken from early, intermediary and late C. arabica plants are included to illustrate the diversity regarding flower bud emission, which quite certainly is defined during flower evocation.