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Title: Towards the understanding of the cocoa transcriptome: Production and analysis of an exhaustive dataset of ESTs of Theobroma cacao L. generated from various tissues and under various conditions.

Author
item ARGOUT, XAVIER - CIRAD URM DAP
item FOUET, OLIVIER - CIRAD URM DAP
item WINCKER, PATRICK - GENOSCOPE
item GRAMACHO, KARINA - CEPLAC
item LEGAVRE, THIERRY - CIRAD URM DAP
item SABAU, XAVIER - CIRAD URM DAP
item RISTERUCCI, ANGE - CIRAD URM DAO
item DA SILVA, CORINNE - GENOSCOPE
item CASCARDO, JULIO - UESC
item ALLEGRE, MATHILDE - CIRAD URM DAP
item Kuhn, David
item VERICA, JOSEPH - PENN ST UNIV DEPT OF HORT
item COURTOIS, BRIGITTE - CIRAD URM DAP
item LOOR, GASTON - INIAP
item BABIN, REGIS - IRAD/CIRAD-UPR 31
item SOUNIGO, OLIVIER - IRAD/CIRAD-UPR 31
item DUCAMP, MICHEL - CIRAD-UMR BGPI
item GUILTINAN, MARK - PENN ST UNIV DEPT OF HORT
item RUIZ, MANUEL - CIRAD URM DAP
item ALEMANNO, LAURENCE - CIRAD- UMR BEPC
item MACHADO, REGINA - MASTERFOODS
item PHILLIPS, WILBERTH - CATIE
item Schnell Ii, Raymond
item GILMOUR, MARTIN - MARS INC.
item Rosenquist, Eric
item BUTLER, DAVID - COCOA RESEARCH UNIT
item MAXIMOVA, SIELA - PENN ST UNIV DEPT OF HORT
item LANAUD, CLAIRE - CIRAD URM DAP

Submitted to: BMC Genomics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2008
Publication Date: 10/30/2008
Citation: Argout, X., Fouet, O., Wincker, P., Gramacho, K., Legavre, T., Sabau, X., Risterucci, A.M., Da Silva, C., Cascardo, J., Allegre, M., Kuhn, D.N., Verica, J., Courtois, B., Loor, G., Babin, R., Sounigo, O., Ducamp, M., Guiltinan, M.J., Ruiz, M., Alemanno, L., Machado, R., Phillips, W., Schnell Ii, R.J., Gilmour, M., Rosenquist, E., Butler, D., Maximova, S., Lanaud, C. 2008. Towards the understanding of the cocoa transcriptome: Production and analysis of an exhaustive dataset of ESTs of Theobroma cacao L. generated from various tissues and under various conditions.. Biomed Central (BMC) Genomics. 2008.9:512.

Interpretive Summary: Researchers working on specialty crops, such as cacao where there is limited genetic information, need genetic markers to be able to do marker-assisted selection to improve a breeding program. A strategy to find genetic markers that are linked to disease resistance or tolerance of abiotic stress such as drought is to challenge plants with the stress and then isolate mRNA to see which genes are expressed in response to the stress. The mRNAs can be copied into DNA (cDNA) and those DNA copies can be sequenced. The genes that are expressed are part of the transcriptome, the part of the genome that is transcribed into RNA which causes the production of specific proteins. In a large international collaboration, plants were challenged in a variety of ways and ~150,000 of the cDNAs were sequenced. This information can be used to make molecular genetic markers that are associated with genes that are expressed in different tissues and in response to different stresses.

Technical Abstract: Theobroma cacao L., is a tree originated from the tropical rainforest of South America. It is one of the major cash crops for many tropical countries. Cocoa is mainly produced on small holdings, providing resources for 14 million farmers. Disease resistance and cocoa quality improvement are two important challenges for all actors of cocoa and chocolate production. Cocoa is seriously affected by pest and fungal diseases, responsible of more than 40% of yield losses, and quality improvement,nutritional and organoleptic, is also important for consumers. An international collaboration was formed to develop an EST genomic resource database for cacao.