Molecular and Cytogenetic Characterization of Wild Musa Species.

The production of bananas is threatened by rapid spreading of various diseases and adverse environmental conditions. The preservation and characterization of banana diversity is essential for the purposes of crop improvement. The world's largest banana germplasm collection maintained at the Bioversity International Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium is continuously expanded by new accessions of edible cultivars and wild species. Detailed morphological and molecular characterization of the accessions is necessary for efficient management of the collection and utilization of banana diversity. In this work, nuclear DNA content and genomic distribution of 45S and 5S rDNA were examined in 21 diploid accessions recently added to ITC collection, representing both sections of the genus Musa. 2C DNA content in the section Musa ranged from 1.217 to 1.315 pg. Species belonging to section Callimusa had 2C DNA contents ranging from 1.390 to 1.772 pg. While the number of 45S rDNA loci was conserved in the section Musa, it was highly variable in Callimusa species. 5S rRNA gene clusters were found on two to eight chromosomes per diploid cell. The accessions were genotyped using a set of 19 microsatellite markers to establish their relationships with the remaining accessions held at ITC. Genetic diversity done by SSR genotyping platform was extended by phylogenetic analysis of ITS region. ITS sequence data supported the clustering obtained by SSR analysis for most of the accessions. High level of nucleotide diversity and presence of more than two types of ITS sequences in eight wild diploids pointed to their origin by hybridization of different genotypes. This study significantly expands the number of wild Musa species where nuclear genome size and genomic distribution of rDNA loci is known. SSR genotyping identified Musa species that are closely related to the previously characterized accessions and provided data to aid in their classification. Sequence analysis of ITS region provided further information about evolutionary relationships between individual accessions and suggested that some of analyzed accessions were interspecific hybrids and/or backcross progeny.

Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the banana family (Musaceae) inferred from multiple nuclear and chloroplast DNA fragments, with a special reference to the genus Musa.

Musaceae is a small paleotropical family. Three genera have been recognised within this family although the generic delimitations remain controversial. Most species of the family (around 65 species) have been placed under the genus Musa and its infrageneric classification has long been disputed. In this study, we obtained nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast (atpB-rbcL, rps16, and trnL-F) DNA sequences of 36 species (42 accessions of ingroups representing three genera) together with 10 accessions of ingroups retrieved from GenBank database and 4 accessions of outgroups, to construct the phylogeny of the family, with a special reference to the infrageneric classification of the genus Musa. Our phylogenetic analyses elaborated previous results in supporting the monophyly of the family and suggested that Musella and Ensete may be congeneric or at least closely related, but refuted the previous infrageneric classification of Musa. None of the five sections of Musa previously defined based on morphology was recovered as monophyletic group in the molecular phylogeny. Two infrageneric clades were identified, which corresponded well to the basic chromosome numbers of x=11 and 10/9/7, respectively: the former clade comprises species from the sections Musa and Rhodochlamys while the latter contains sections of Callimusa, Australimusa, and Ingentimusa.