Genomic architecture and breeding trade‐offs of coconut drought tolerance
Societal Impact Statement The coconut palm is an extremely popular and economically important crop, with around 65 million tonnes produced in 2023. Although Africa's coconut sector is growing rapidly, it—and the livelihoods that depend on it—is threatened by climate change, particularly increased drought. Although developing stress‐resilient crops remains challenging, here we aimed to first understand the variation in drought response and then to dissect the genomic basis of this complex trait, leveraging an experimental system in Côte d'Ivoire. Despite identifying a trade‐off between drought tolerance and yield, we propose that genomic selection, after validation, could help expand production onto marginal land.
Authors
- Doubi Bi Tra Serges (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8583-0924)
- C. Matilda Collins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0966-5343)
- Jahcub Trew
- Vincent Savolainen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5350-9984)
- Sam Acors (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6428-7707)
- Thomas M. M. Versluys (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7136-4296)
- Kyle Macleod (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4869-2144)
- Julien Lamontagne‐Godwin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0849-5373)
- Djaha Konan Engueran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7516-8057)
- Matteo Fumagalli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4084-2953)
- Louis Bell‐Roberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4035-8168)
- Theodore S. Brook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6735-1313)
- Benjamin J. Roberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7550-3388)
- N’klo Hala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1776-0346)
- Jean Louis Konan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5340-6395)
- Katarina Piponi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1528-2663)
Institutions
- CAB International (GB)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (GB)
- Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CI)
- Imperial College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Plants People Planet
- Published
- 2026-08-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70260
- Primary Topic
- Coconut Research and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Royal Society
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Research England