Brazilian coffee genome project: an EST-based genomic resource
Authors: Vieira Luiz Gonzaga Esteves , Andrade Alan Carvalho , Colombo Carlos Augusto , Moraes Ana Heloneida de Araújo , Metha Ângela , Oliveira Angélica Carvalho de , Labate Carlos Alberto , Marino Celso Luis , Monteiro-Vitorello Claúdia de Barros , Monte Damares de Castro , Giglioti Éder , Kimura Edna Teruko , Romano Eduardo , Kuramae Eiko Eurya , Lemos Eliana Gertrudes Macedo , Almeida Elionor Rita Pereira de , Jorge Érika C. , Albuquerque Érika V. S. , Silva Felipe Rodrigues da , Vinecky Felipe , Sawazaki Haiko Enok , Dorry Hamza Fahmi A. , Carrer Helaine , Abreu Ilka Nacif , Batista João A. N. , Teixeira João Batista , Kitajima João Paulo , Xavier Karem Guimarães , Lima Liziane Maria de , Camargo Luis Eduardo Aranha de , Pereira Luiz Filipe Protasio , Coutinho Luiz Lehmann , Lemos Manoel Victor Franco , Romano Marcelo Ribeiro , Machado Marcos Antonio , Costa Marcos Mota do Carmo , Sá Maria Fátima Grossi de , Goldman Maria Helena S. , Ferro Maria Inês T. , Tinoco Maria Laine Penha , Oliveira Mariana C. , Van Sluys Marie-Anne , Shimizu Milton Massao , Maluf Mirian Perez , Eira Mirian Therezinha Souza da , Guerreiro Filho Oliveiro , Arruda Paulo , Mazzafera Paulo , Mariani Pilar Drummond Sampaio Correa , Oliveira Regina L.B.C. de , Harakava Ricardo , Balbao Silvia Filippi , Tsai Siu Mui , Mauro Sonia Marli Zingaretti di , Santos Suzana Neiva , Siqueira Walter José , Costa Gustavo Gilson Lacerda , Formighieri Eduardo Fernandes , Carazzolle Marcelo Falsarella , Pereira Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães 
Published: August 2006

Coffee is one of the most valuable agricultural commodities and ranks second on international trade exchanges. The genus Coffea belongs to the Rubiaceae family which includes other important plants. The genus contains about 100 species but commercial production is based only on two species, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora that represent about 70 % and 30 % of the total coffee market, respectively. The Brazilian Coffee Genome Project was designed with the objective of making modern genomics resources available to the coffee scientific community, working on different aspects of the coffee production chain. We have single-pass sequenced a total of 214,964 randomly picked clones from 37 cDNA libraries of C. arabica, C. canephora and C. racemosa, representing specific stages of cells and plant development that after trimming resulted in 130,792, 12,381 and 10,566 sequences for each species, respectively. The ESTs clustered into 17,982 clusters and 32,155 singletons. Blast analysis of these sequences revealed that 22 % had no significant matches to sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database (of known or unknown function). The generated coffee EST database resulted in the identification of close to 33,000 different unigenes. Annotated sequencing results have been stored in an online database at <A HREF="http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/cafe">http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/cafe</A>. Resources developed in this project provide genetic and genomic tools that may hold the key to the sustainability, competitiveness and future viability of the coffee industry in local and international markets.