Analysis of the chloroplast genome of a coffee relative from northern Australia

Coffee is a major crop of economic importance. A reference nuclear genome sequence for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) has been developed by an international consortium. Recent revisions of the coffee genus have included a species from north Queensland, Coffea brassii. This species grows at low altitudes and may be a source of very different coffee quality and production traits. We have developed efficient techniques for the extraction and assembly of complete chloroplast genome sequences from shot gun sequencing of total DNA from plant preparations. We now report the application of this approach to the analysis of this coffee wild relative. Phylogenies based upon the whole chloroplast sequences provide a useful tool for analysis of evolutionary relationships and allow evaluation of crop wild relatives.