Cytology, biochemistry and molecular changes during coffee fruit development

By R. D. Castro, P. Marraccini. 2006

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In commercial coffee species (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora), fruit development is a lengthy process, characterized by tissue changes and evolutions. For example, soon after fecundation and up to mid development, the fruit is mainly constituted of the pericarp and perisperm tissue. Thereafter, the perisperm gradually disappears and is progressively replaced by the endosperm (true seed). Initially present in a “liquid” state, the endosperm hardens as it ripens during the maturation phase, as a result of accumulation of storage proteins, sucrose and complex polysaccharides representing the main reserves of the seed. The last step of maturation is characterized by the dehydration of the endosperm and the color change of the pericarp. Important quantitative and qualitative changes accompany fruit growth, highlighting the importance of its study to better understand the final characteristics of coffee beans. Following a description of the coffee fruit tissues, this review presents some data concerning biochemical, enzymatic and gene expression variations observed during the coffee fruit development. The latter will also be analyzed in the light of recent data (electronic expression profiles) arising from the Brazilian Coffee Genome Project. Key words: Coffea spp, bean development, cell cycle, endosperm, EST, gene expression, pericarp, perisperm.Cytology, biochemistry and molecular changes during coffee fruit development: Em especies comerciais de cafe (Coffea arabica e Coffea canephora), o desenvolvimento do fruto de cafe e um processo longo, caracterizado por mudancas e evolucoes nos tecidos. Por exemplo, logo apos a fecundacao e ate a metade do desenvolvimento, o fruto e principalmente constituido pelo pericarpo e perisperma. Em seguida, o perisperma gradualmente desaparece e e progressivamente substituido pelo endosperma (semente verdadeira). Inicialmente o endosperma apresenta-se no estado “liquido”, o endosperma endurece durante a fase de maturacao, como resultado do acumulo gradual de proteinas de reserva, sacarose e polissacarideos complexos representando as principais reservas da semente. O ultimo passo da maturacao e caracterizado pela desidratacao do endosperma e pela mudanca de cor do pericarpo. Importantes alteracoes quantitativas e qualitativas acompanham o crescimento do fruto, ilustrando a importância do seu estudo para melhor compreender as caracteristicas finais das sementes de cafe. Seguindo a descricao dos tecidos do fruto de cafe, esta revisao apresenta alguns dados relativos as variacoes bioquimicas, enzimaticas e de expressao genica durante o desenvolvimento do fruto. A expressao de genes sera tambem analisada em funcao de dados recentes (perfil de expressao eletronica) oriundos do Projeto Genoma Brasileiro Cafe. Palavras-chave: Coffea spp, ciclo celular, desenvolvimento da semente, endosperma, EST, expressao genica, pericarpo, perisperma.INTRODUCTIONThe Coffea genus contains around 100 species (Charrier and Berthaud, 1985). Within these species, C. arabica (Arabica) and C. canephora (Robusta) represent respectively about 70 % and 30 % of the coffee market (Marshall, 1985). In both cases, coffee fruits are classified as “drupes”, characterizing a pulpy mesocarp with lignified endocarp (figure 1). At the genetic level, Arabica is tetraploid (2n=4x=44 chromosomes), originating from a natural cross between C. canephora and C. eugenoides (Lashermes et

Subfields: Horticulture, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology

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