Through genome analysis, the scientists uncovered surprising insights into yerba mate’s evolutionary history – particularly its pathway for producing caffeine.

Caffeine is produced by approximately 30 of the world’s 300,000 or so different species of flowering plants, estimated Todd Barkman of Western Michigan, who led the new study. The divergent nature of ...

An international group of researchers has mapped the yerba mate genome, providing insights into the biosynthesis of caffeine in yerba mate. This new information provides opportunities for creating ...

It revealed surprising facts about the plant's biochemistry and its evolutionary history—in particular, the evolution of caffeine biosynthesis. "I discovered that an ancestor of yerba had ...