One of the constraints to the use of the entire spectrum of Musa diversity is a lack of information on the morphological characteristics, genetic makeup and agronomic performance of many of the accessions conserved in genebanks. To stimulate a wider use of the diversity under its care, Bioversity continues to improve the morphological and molecular characterization of its Musa collection held at the International Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium. The results of these efforts are providing references that collections worldwide can apply to rationalize their own holdings.
Morphological characterization
The standards for describing banana plants, developed by experts and published in collaboration with the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), are available in Descriptors for banana. Work is also ongoing to develop a minimum set of photos of robust (i.e. stable across environments) descriptors to identify accessions at the subgroup level, and eventually at the variety level. These descriptors are being tested on the ITC accessions undergoing field verification.
Molecular characterization
Molecular markers are powerful tools to study the genetic basis of diversity and phylogenetic relationships. Matching morphological characters with molecular profiles and ploidy levels should serve as a springboard for harmonizing the taxonomy of Musa.
As a first step towards that goal, Bioversity will soon make available the fingerprint profiles of 52 ITC accessions and the primers used to generate them. The genetic makeup of another 500 or so accessions is also being characterized.
The data from these studies, along with the ploidy levels of 1175 ITC accessions and the results of the International Musa Testing Program (IMTP), are being stored in the Musa Germplasm Information System (MGIS) and the CIRAD TropGENE database. |
Grants
CDC-World Bank: Global Public Goods Rehabilitation Project
Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) |
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What we do 