Plant Ecology and Evolution 153 (1): 82–100, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2020.1584 REGULAR PAPER New insights on spatial genetic structure and diversity of Coffea canephora (Rubiaceae) in Upper Guinea based on old herbaria Jean-Pierre Labouisse1,2,3,*, Philippe Cubry4, Frédéric Austerlitz5, Ronan Rivallan1,2,3 & Hong Anh Nguyen1,2,3 1CIRAD, UMR AGAP, FR-34398 Montpellier, France 2AGAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France 3Postal address: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, Avenue Agropolis, TA A-108/03, FR-34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 4DIADE, Université de Montpellier, IRD, FR-34394 Montpellier, France 5UMR 7206 Éco-Anthropologie, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot, FR-75116 Paris, France *Corresponding author:
[email protected] CIRAD: Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement; AGAP: Amélioration Génétique et Adaptation des Plantes tropicales et méditerranéennes; CNRS: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; INRAE: Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement; DIADE: DIversité - Adaptation - Développement des plantes; IRD: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement; MNHN: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle; UMR: Unité Mixte de Recherche Backgrounds and aims – Previous studies showed that robusta coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre ex A.Froehner), one of the two cultivated coffee species worldwide, can be classified in two genetic groups: the Guinean group originating in Upper Guinea and the Congolese group in Lower Guinea and Congolia. Although C. canephora of the Guinean group is an important resource for genetic improvement of robusta coffee, its germplasm is under-represented in ex situ gene banks and its genetic diversity and population structure have not yet been investigated.