Why Sequence the Cacao Genome?

Cacao production is important! Not only does it provide a livelihood for over 6.5 million farmers in Africa, South America and Asia, but it is the basic ingredient in the worlds favorite confection, chocolate. Historically, cocoa production has been plagued by serious global losses from pests and diseases. Brazil, for instance, was the world's second largest cocoa producer during the 1980's, producing over 400,000 tons/year. After a fungal pathogen, M. perniciosa, infected almost all of its cacao growing regions it now produces less than 100,000 tons/year. So how can we best secure cocoa bean production? First, we need to identify the genes that control the agronomic traits we are interested in, such as yield, flavor and resistance to disease and pests. Armed with this knowledge we can  identify DNA markers that can be used to screen cacao cultivars for the presence of the genes of interest. Improved cultivars can be developed by crossing  cacao plants which have the desired traits and identifying those that have  inherited all of the desired characteristics using the DNA markers. Only the plants containing the required traits will then continue on for further field evaluation, ultimately leading to the release of  superior cacao cultivars.  The most efficient, rapid and direct way to identify the genes responsible for controlling the traits of agronomic importance is to sequence the cacao genome.