With ample cultivation and economic potential, coffee is one of the main commodities in the world. Despite its vast cultivation, there remain problems related to its productivity as a consequence of pests and diseases, questions regarding its physiology, and difficulty with its propagation. Due to such challenges, the application of biotechnological tools, such as tissue culture and molecular markers, has become essential in the search for improvements to coffee cultivation. Among tissue culture techniques, somatic embryogenesis is considered the best form of micropropagation in vitro since it is possible to produce plants that are identical to the parent plant. It is therefore essential to identify the genes involved in the process of somatic embryogenesis, as well as to understand their functions. Different studies have shown the expression of ethylene response factor (ERF) genes in different tissues and under different conditions, mainly in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little is known about their role during somatic embryogenesis. Thus, this study is aimed to identify and analyze the expression patterns of ERF subfamily genes during Coffea arabica L. somatic embryogenesis. The EST-contig6, 9, and 27 were confirmed to be the ethylene response factor 8, 13, and 12 genes from Coffea arabica L., respectively, and their relative expression analysis suggests that they may be involved in coffee somatic embryogenesis. The expression patterns of ethylene response factor 8 and 13 in embryogenic calluses and embryogenic cell suspensions showed that these genes can potentially act as somatic embryogenic markers.

具有丰富的种植和经济潜力，咖啡是世界上的主要商品之一。尽管其栽培繁多，但由于虫害和病害，仍存在与其生产率有关的问题，有关其生理的问题以及其繁殖困难。由于这些挑战，生物技术工具（例如组织培养和分子标记）的应用在寻求改进咖啡种植方面已变得至关重要。在组织培养技术中，体细胞胚发生被认为是体外微繁殖的最佳形式因为可以生产与亲本植物相同的植物。因此，至关重要的是鉴定参与体细胞胚发生过程的基因，并了解其功能。不同的研究表明，乙烯响应因子（ERF）基因在不同组织和不同条件下的表达，主要是对生物和非生物胁迫的响应。然而，关于它们在体细胞胚发生中的作用了解甚少。因此，本研究旨在鉴定和分析阿拉伯咖啡L.体细胞胚发生过程中ERF亚家族基因的表达模式。的EST- contig6，9，和27被证实分别是来自阿拉伯咖啡的乙烯反应因子8、13和12基因，它们的相对表达分析表明它们可能参与了咖啡的体细胞胚发生。乙烯反应因子8和13在胚性愈伤组织和胚性细胞悬浮液中的表达模式表明，这些基因可能潜在地充当体细胞胚发生标记。