Researchers analyzing the genomes of cultivated cacao trees have traced their origin to a "single domestication event" some 3,600 years ago. The discovery opens a new front in a long-running argument regarding when and where ...
Biotechnology
Oct 24, 2018
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Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, announced Monday it would rip up 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of cocoa trees in a bid to roll back a plant virus called swollen shoot.
Environment
Jun 11, 2018
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14
The freshly sequenced genome of the most commonly cultivated cacao plant in the world is revealed in the open access journal Genome Biology this week. Researchers have utilised high quality DNA sequences to demonstrate the ...
Biotechnology
Jun 2, 2013
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The words "chocolate" and "disappointment" don't often go together.
Materials Science
Apr 14, 2022
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The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), whose beans (cocoa) are used to make products including chocolate, liquor and cocoa butter, may have spread from the Amazon basin to the other regions of South and Central America at least ...
Archaeology
Mar 7, 2024
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72
Molecular geneticists have known for about a decade that genomic structural variants can play important roles in the adaptation and speciation of both plants and animals, but their overall influence on the fitness of plant ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 16, 2021
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53
Advent calendars with hidden chocolatey treats, huge tins of Quality Street and steaming cups of hot chocolate festooned with whipped cream and marshmallows are all much-loved wintry staples at Christmastime. But how many ...
Archaeology
Dec 22, 2022
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18
For decades, researchers have worked to improve cacao fermentation by controlling the microbes involved. Now, to their surprise, a team of Belgian researchers has discovered that the same species of yeast used in production ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 15, 2015
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24
It's almost impossible to imagine a world without chocolate. Yet cacao trees, which are the source of chocolate, are vulnerable.
Plants & Animals
Feb 10, 2021
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For the first time, Penn State researchers have identified a gene that controls flowering in cacao, a discovery that may help accelerate breeding efforts aimed at improving the disease-ridden plant, they suggested.
Biotechnology
May 17, 2021
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