Molecular breeding in the genus Musa: a strong case for STMS marker technology

Musa species are among the tallest monocotyledons and include major food-producing species. The principal cultivars, derived from two major species Musa acuminata ('A' genome) and Musa balbisiana ('B' genome), are polyploid hybrids (mainly AAA, AAB and ABB triploids), medium to highly sterile, parthenocarpic and clonally propagated. Bananas and plantains are crops to which molecular breeding is expected to have a positive impact. In order to better understand banana genetics, more knowledge has to be accumulated about the complex genome structure of hybrids and cultivars. Therefore, the aim of our work is to develop molecular markers that are codominant, reliable, universal, highly polymorphic and that are applicable to collaborative Musa germplasm genotyping and mapping. Two size-selected genomic libraries have been screened for the presence of simple sequence repeats (SSR). Our data demonstrate that SSR are readily applicable to the study of Musa genetics. Our comprehensive analyses of a significant number of banana sequence tagged microsatellite sites (STMS) will add to our knowledge on the structure and phylogeny of genomes of the Musa species, and suggest that microsatellites be used as anchor markers for a banana genetic core map. Additional markers, such as e.g. CAPS have also been tested in order to increase the detection of polymorphisms exceeding that revealed by STMS technology. The utility of PCR-derived markers for collaborative genetic analyses of the banana genome, and the transferability of 'streamlined' laboratory techniques and data analysis to Developing Countries are discussed.