| Theobroma cacao L. (chocolate tree) is an important cash crop for 40-50 million farmers and their families in its tropical growing regions worldwide. Cocoa butter and cocoa powder extracted from cacao seeds provide the main raw ingredients for chocolate manufacturing, supporting a ;Together, my Ph.D. dissertation makes major contributions to three important research areas in cacao: (1) identification of the key gene regulating fatty acid composition in cocoa butter, (2) improvement of large-scale propagation system (somatic embryogenesis) of cacao, (3) enhancement of cacao foliar disease resistance. This thesis not only provides useful knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of important quality traits at the molecular and genetic levels, but also demonstrates the potential of taking advantage of cacao genomic resources to accelerate cacao basic research and breeding programs. |
