Genetic Characterization of Coffea arabica ‘Geisha' from Panama and Ethiopia

Coffee is an important agricultural commodity contributing significantly to the economies of many developing countries. Of the 125 species of Coffea, the two main commercial species used in the production of the beverage are C. arabica L. (Arabica coffee) and C. canephora A. Froehner (robusta coffee). Arabica coffee accounts for about 70% of the total coffee production. The Geisha variety (C. arabica var. Geisha) was first discovered in the forested mountains of western Ethiopia in 1930s in the provinces of Maji and Goldija. It was first brought to Panama from Costa Rica in 1963 after journeying through Tanzania, Kenya and Costa Rica. Displaying unique flavor profiles, larger bean size and other phenotypic differences from other C. arabica varieties, this variety also exhibits resistance to coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley and Broome). The specific research objective of this study was to understand the genetic differences between the Geisha coffee grown in Panama and that from the original forests in Ethiopia using Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs).