Towards the Domestication of Jatropha: The Integration of Sciences

Renewable sources of energy are now necessary in view of the depleting fossil fuel reserves. Biodiesel is an attractive alternative to fossil oil. However, this type of energy is largely based on three industrial food crops for its worldwide supply and will remain marginal in the long term if sources are not diversified. Because of this need, the international community is now searching for second and third generation biofuels. Among the possible sources for such fuels, the oil of Jatropha curcas offers interesting characteristics, but it is a semi-wild species that will require selective breeding to become an industrial crop. There is a strong need for physiological and genetic benchmark descriptors to avoid unproductive agriculture. The purpose of this review is to present essential information about the state of the art biotechnology methods that could be applied to J. curcas to expedite selective breeding and bring it to the level of an industrial crop as rapidly as possible, which is a status that it deserves.