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Molecular characterization of Vietnamese cocoa genotypes (Theobroma cacao L.) using microsatellite markers

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Abstract

Vietnam has the appropriate climate, soil, and humidity for cocoa cultivation and is growing as a cocoa-producing country. To supply the international cocoa market, trees have been planted in Southern Vietnam. Cocoa quality depends on various factors, such as the genotype/cultivar, environment, and post-harvest processing. Until now, little research has been done on the genetic background of Vietnamese cocoa. Therefore, this study focused on the genetic relationships of 75 cocoa cultivars, sampled in Vietnam. Fourteen microsatellite markers were used to assay the genetic diversity and to genotype and differentiate the accessions. Descriptive statistics showed that most of the used microsatellite markers were sufficient to be used in further analysis, of which mTcCIR 15, 33, and 37 were the most polymorphic. The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and Bayesian clustering approach divided the samples in two groups, which were linked to the Trinitario and Forastero varieties. The Vietnamese Can Tho (CT) cultivars showed little variation, while the Thu Duc (TD) cultivars showed a continuous variation between the different reference cultivars. This indicates that the CT cultivars were Trinitario and that the TD cultivars were hybrids of Forastero or Forastero and Trinitario. The molecular characterization is an important step towards developing a strong genetic basis for the Vietnamese cocoa industry. It can be used to conserve valuable genetic material and to select promising cocoa cultivars which are disease resistant, high yielding, and fine flavored. In this way, the high-quality Vietnamese cocoa production can be improved and maintained.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam for technical assistance during the sampling. Further, we are grateful to Cecile Tondo (USDA) for support with the analysis of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory AgriFing, Department of Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Helena Everaert, Hayley Rottiers, Lam Thi Viet Ha, Thi Phuong Dung Nguyen & Kathy Messens

  2. Laboratory of Food Technology and Engineering, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Helena Everaert, Hayley Rottiers, Lam Thi Viet Ha, Thi Phuong Dung Nguyen, Phuong Diem Tran, Jocelyn De Wever & Koen Dewettinck

  3. Cocoa Research and Development Project, Nong Lam University Linh Trung, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Phuoc Hong Duc Pham

  4. Biotechnology Research and Development Institute, Can Tho University, Campus II, 3/2 Street, Can Tho City, Vietnam

    Phuong Diem Tran

  5. Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Crop protection, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Kevin Maebe & Guy Smagghe

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  1. Helena Everaert
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  2. Hayley Rottiers
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  11. Kathy Messens
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Correspondence to Helena Everaert.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data archiving statement

The accession numbers and associated SSR data will be submitted to the ICGD (http://www.icgd.reading.ac.uk/acknowledgements.php), hosted by the University of Reading.

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Communicated by W.-W. Guo

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Everaert, H., Rottiers, H., Pham, P.H.D. et al. Molecular characterization of Vietnamese cocoa genotypes (Theobroma cacao L.) using microsatellite markers. Tree Genetics & Genomes 13, 99 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-017-1180-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-017-1180-6

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