ISHS Acta Horticulturae 461: International Symposium on Biotechnology of Tropical and Subtropical Species Part 2
MICROPROPAGATION AND MUTATION BREEDING TECHNIQUES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF BANANAS |
| Authors: | C. Mak, Y.W. Ho, Y.P. Tan |
| Keywords: | Musa, in vitro propagation, Fusarium wilt, disease resistance |
| Abstract:
Micropropagation, using shoot-tip meristems, has been used for commercial production of banana planting materials in Malaysia. Somaclonal variation, which is known to occur in such in vitro plants, has been exploited for the improvement of banana cultivars. Continuous selection of early fruiting individuals with desirable bunch weight following micropropagation has resulted inplanting materials of Pisang Berangan (cv. Intan) being relatively early in flowering (i.e. 63% of the plants have flowered by the end of eight months after field planting compared to 16% in the unselected materials). A selection of Pisang Rastali (AAB) derived from tissue culture was also found to be resistant to Fusarium wilt with plants apparently showing a hypersensitive reaction to the pathogen. In vitro mutation induction by gamma irradiation has resulted in the selection of an early flowering Cavendish banana called Novaria as well as the generation of diversity in Pisang Berangan. The plants produced following irradiation of Pisang Berangan are being evaluated for desirable agronomic traits and resistance to Fusarium wilt disease. | |
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