| The genus Coffea L. has around 100 native species distributed in tropical and subtropical areas in Africa, and the most important economic species are C. arabica and C. canephora. C. arabica is exceptional in the genus since it is the only species so far analyzed which is self-compatible, and a natural polyploid with 2n=4x=44 chromosomes; it is considered to be a segmental allopolyploid because it presents a disomic inheritance and a regular meiotic behavior. All other species in the genus are self-incompatible diploids with 2n=2x=22. Cytogenetic studies in Coffea, undertaken since 1912, have followed various phases: initial studies were limited only to establishing chromosome counts. Subsequent studies characterized the karyotypes of various species using... |
