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The Threat of the Coffee Berry Borer
by Audrey Persch and Olivia Thomas
Can you imagine your morning without a cup of coffee? A new study shows that
this could be the case in the future. Ceja-Navarro et. al, associated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, looked into the relationships between coffee plants and one of its pests. Their paper, published in Nature Communications titled, “Gut microbiota mediate caffeine detoxification in the primary insect pest of coffee” puts into detail the detrimental effects the coffee berry borer can have on coffee plants.
The Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) is originally from Africa, and is now present in most coffee-producing countries. This is an issue because it shows how the CBB has become an invasive species to many coffee-producing regions (Ceja-Navarro et al. 2015). An invasive species is defined as a species that is from another region of the world that doesn't belong in their new environment. Invasive species can threaten native plants or animals and can permanently alter existing habitats. This study was conducted to investigate why the CBB is able to threaten coffee production.
Although us humans mostly love caffeine and often rely on it to help us stay awake throughout the day, it is actually the coffee plant’s chemical defense against many predators. Most species cannot digest caffeine, therefore it is toxic to them and they avoid consuming coffee plants. However, the CBB is able to consume and digest caffeine, making it the most devastating insect pest of coffee worldwide. Coffee berry borer infestations have the ability to decrease coffee crop yield by up to 80%, which could be devastating to coffee production (Ceja-Navarro et al. 2015).
The study done by Ceja-Navarro et. al contributes to the efforts to protect coffee production by investigating the mechanisms the coffee berry borer uses as a predator. The ability of the CBB to digest caffeine makes scientists believe that these insects have special adaptations to be able to curb the effects of the coffee plant’s defenses. The researchers hypothesized that the gut microbiota of the CBB might have something to do with their ability to digest caffeine. The gut microbiota consists of all of themicroorganisms living in the digestive tract of an organism which help it to digest and get nourishment from its food. Although it sounds creepy, humans too have a gut microbiota which is necessary for our survival!
To test their hypothesis, researchers fed one group of CBB’s a diet with antibiotics to kill the microbes living in the digestive system of the pest and one group of CBB’s a regular diet. The CBB’s were then allowed to feed on the coffee plant. Analysis of the waste from the CBB’s fed a normal diet showed complete digestion of the caffeine while the CBB’s that had been fed antibiotics lost their ability to degrade the caffeine while it was in their bodies (Ceja-Navarro et al. 2015). If the microbes were put back into the CBB’s digestive tracts, they were able to digest caffeine again. These findings suggest that it is the unique mix of microbes living in the digestive system of the CBB which allows them to digest caffeine, hence why they are such effective predators of the coffee plant.
The findings of Ceja-Navarro et al. have given coffee-drinkers all around the world hope for a caffeine-filled future! Researchers believe it may be possible to target the gut microbiota of the CBB as a way to diminish the pests ability to feed on coffee, therefore protecting coffee plants from extinction. It is important to study the ecological relationships coffee has with other species in order to protect coffee production so we can continue to have our cup of coffee in the morning.
References:
Ceja-Navarro, J. A., F. E. Vega, U. Karaoz, Z. Hao, S. Jenkins, H. C. Lim, P. Kosina, F. Infante, T. R. Northen, and E. L. Brodie. 2015. Gut microbiota mediate caffeine detoxification in the primary insect pest of coffee. Nature Communications 6:7618.
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