Abstract
Pathogens are the major limiting factors in coffee productions. Approximately 26% of the global annual coffee production is lost due to diseases, threatening the income of nearly 125 million people worldwide. Therefore, reducing coffee yield losses by improving the resistance of coffee plants to disease and insect attack will provide a major contribution to agricultural sustainability and disease management of many regions. Breeding varieties that are resistant to a broad spectrum of pathogens, genetically stable and high yielding, requires strategies that will overcome challenges known by coffee breeders. Recently developed genomic tools allow a better understanding of coffee-pathogen interaction and help to identify genes involved in pathogen resistance or susceptibility. Understanding the influence of individual factors and their interaction will help to select interesting accessions and to accelerate breeding strategies for coffee improvement. Additional information on the quantitative effect of pest and disease on coffee crop losses and the understanding of their impact are essential to develop the best pest management strategy. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of coffee production and recent advances in resistance breeding programs, with emphasis on induced mutagenesis, genomic tools, and genome editing. The focus is on the origin, domestication, evolution, and gene pools of coffee. Moreover, answers will be given toward: how we can benefit from establishing a genetically diverse coffee population; how genomic resources can play an important role in host resistance; and what are the major pathogens affecting coffee.