Increasing Accuracy and Throughput in Large-Scale Microsatellite Fingerprinting of Cacao Field Germplasm Collections

Abstract In this study we report on increasing the rate and accuracy of microsatellite fingerprinting of accessions in Theobroma cacao L. field germplasm collections with a medium-throughput capillary sequencing system. We examined the use of a reduced number of microsatellite loci to decrease the time and materials required for fingerprinting and determined the best available microsatellite loci for accurately separating accessions. A subset of nine informative loci that could separate sixty accessions into the same genetic groupings as a complete set of 37 loci was found. Stringent probability of identity values (i.e. chance of unique accession) was highly influenced (r=−0.996; P<0.001) by the number of alleles utilised in the fingerprinting set but the composition of the primer set was more important when choosing discriminatory loci. DNA pooling to reduce the number of samples was also investigated. There was a relatively high level of mixture within plots (59% of 54 plots examined) of the field genebank, which opposed the use of a pooling strategy to fingerprint the multiple trees of an accession plot in the collection

Plant genetic resources: foundations for a food-secure and climate-resilient future in the Caribbean

Across the Caribbean, climate change will bring about not only challenges but also a wide array of opportunities, which lend greater significance to the region’s wealth of plant genetic resources. Realizing the potential of those resources to help ensure food security and build more-resilient agricultural systems in the face of climate change will require stronger regional cooperation. Its central aims should be to develop timely interventions across national borders that improve the collection, conservation, and sharing of plant genetic resources

Recursos fitogenéticos: bases para un futuro resiliente al clima y libre de hambre en el Caribe

En toda la región Caribe, el cambio climático no solamente planteará desafíos sino también una amplia gama de oportunidades, que ofrecen mayor importancia a la riqueza de recursos fitogenéticos de la región. Materializar el potencial de estos recursos para contribuir a garantizar la seguridad alimentaria y crear sistemas agrícolas más resilientes frente al cambio climático requerirá de una mayor cooperación regional. Los objetivos centrales de esta cooperación deberán ser: desarrollar intervenciones oportunas en las fronteras nacionales que mejoren la colecta, conservación y el intercambio de los recursos fitogenéticos