Developing a core collection for the conservation of Theobroma cacao's genetic diversity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Crop core collections serve as a means of conserving genetic variation and providing a diverse array of accessions for future research and breeding endeavours. Despite the challenges posed by diseases and climate change to global cacao production, no centralized core collection currently exists. To address this gap, we have assembled a new, general-purpose cacao core collection from accessions present in international collections.

Results

A dataset of 310 cacao accessions from international collections were selected based on material availability, geographic origin, and known phenotypic characteristics. Population structure analysis of 26,601 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from these accessions revealed ten distinct genetic groups, consistent with previous

SUBMITTER: Todd ET 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12506273 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature