Breeding of Fruit and Plantation Crops 2 + 1

Breeding methods and achievements

Introduction

• Introduction of some cultivators of banana was made with resistance to biotic stresses e.g. Lady Finger (EC 160160) resistant to bunchy top virus introduced from Australia and is being evaluated at IIHR, Bangalore and TNAU, Coimbatore. Further, cultivars Naine MS (EC 27237) from France and Valery from West Indies were introduced for utilization in improvement programme (Singh and Rana, 1993).


Hybridization

• In India, breeding work was started at Central Banana Research Station, Aduthurai (Tamil Nadu) in 1949 (Sathiamoorthy and Balamohan, 1993). Afterwards breeding programme was also initiated at TNAU, Coimbatore and Kerala Agricultural University, Trichur. Technique of hybridization in banana is different from other crops. Pollination is best carried out in the morning. The bunches of female parent are bagged at shooting and each successive hand is pollinated as it is exposed. At maturity and ripening the bunch is cut and seeds are extracted. Seeds are sown at once in the green house.


• Evaluation of hybrid progenies from seedlings to harvest may not be the correct phase instead, evaluation of the same under next vegetative phase i.e., sucker to harvest stage will be ideal as full expression of yield potential could be observed only in the second crop of the F1 progeny. The first crop (seedling to harvest) takes more than 15-19 months, where most of the energy of the plants is needed for corm formation.

Three main approaches in breeding dessert bananas of the Cavendish types are:

• 3n x 2 n superior diploid; there is no chromosome reduction in the egg cells thus yielding tetraploids
• 4 n bred tetraploids hybrids x 2n superior diploids producing ‘Natural triploids’
• 2 n meiotic restituting clones x 2n superior diploids producing ‘Natural triploids’.

Developing new diploid male parent

• In many banana growing countries, initially wild diploid bananas (AA) were utilized as male parent and as a result, the resultant tetraploids had inherited many undesirable traits. Hence, it has been felt by banana breeders that the primary objective is to synthesize a good male parent. An ideal male parent must be highly resistant to Panama and Sigatoka diseases, must have vertical and compact bunch and fruits as large as the diploidy can allow and must be parthenocarpic having sufficient pollen to permit its use as a male parent.
  


• Musa acuminata subsp. burmannica and its hybrids offer a good source of resistance to black Sigatoka. One such diploid developed in Honduras is SH 2989. Other male diploids worthy to be mentioned are SH 3142 for nematode resistance and SH 3176 evolved through multiple crosses for resistance to Black Sigatoka with desirable horticultural traits.

Breeding work at TNAU

• Since 1971, extensive inter-diploid crosses were made to synthesize new diploid forms at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore using the following parents:Matti (AA) is a diploid cultivar commercially grown in the southern most part of India.


• It exhibits a strong resistance to Sigatoka disease but is highly susceptible to nematodes. Its bunches weigh 12 to 19kg with 9 to 10 hands containing fairly long fingers. It sets seeds when pollinated, though it is highly male sterile. This cultivar is extensively used as female parent in the diploid breeding programmes. M.acuminata subsp. burmannica has been shown to have resistance to fusarium wilt Races 1 and 2, sigatoka diseases and nematodes.Other diploid clones involved in the diploid male parents synthesis at Coimbatore are the indigenous cultivars Anaikomban (AA) and Namarai (AA).


• Anaikomban is resistant to nematodes and fusarium wilt but susceptible to yellow sigatoka. It has long fingers (15 to 18 cm) and usually produces a smaller bunch weighing 6 to 8 kg. Namarai is a small slender plant, grown in Pulney and Sirumalai hills of Tamil Nadu. With small fruits having piquant flavor and pleasant acid sweet taste. It has very short pedicel. It is susceptible to both Sigatoka disease and nematodes but no incidence of Panama disease is known so far.


• The introduced diploids are Pisang lilin (AA) and Tongat (AA), known for their resistance to Panama disease and nematodes.


• Many synthetic hybrids (diploids) have been developed which have good horticultural characters including resistance to Sigatoka, Panama wilt and burrowing nematodes. These hybrids are now used as the male parents to cross with local triploid varieties or inter crossed to synthesise new triploid hybrids.



3n x 2n breeding programme taken up at TNAU has resulted in the development of CO1 banana.




• It is a Pome group of banana of the genome AAB and closely resembles Virupakshi (AAB), a pome type banana popular in the hills of Tamil Nadu. Presently three pre-release cultures viz., H.96/7 ( akin to Karpooravalli)


• At Kerala Agricultural University, two hybrids viz., BRS-1 (Agniswar x Pisang lilin) and BRS -2 (Vannan x Pisang lillin) have been developed. BRS -1 (AAB) is 100 days earlier than Rasthali with significant differences in bunch weight. It has been released for homestead cultivation in Kerala, as it is resistant to sigatoka leaf spot. BRS-2 (AAB) is a medium statured hybrid, tolerant to leaf spot and panama disease, rhizome weevil and nematodes. The average bunch weight is 14 kg with 8 hands and 118 fruits in crop duration of 314 days.

Breeding work in other Countries

• PITA-9: A Black Sigatoka Resistant (BSR) hybrid from the “False Horn” plantain, a tetraploid hybrid having black Sigatoka resistance has been developed at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria.‘BITA-3’ is a tetraploid starchy banana hybrid with low partial resistance to black Sigatoka disease developed at IITA High Rainfall Station in Onne (Southeastern Nigeria), where both (Banana streak virus) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) have been observed. ‘BITA-3’ is a hybrid from the interspecific cross ‘Laknau’ x ‘Taju Lagada’, ‘Laknau’ is a female –fertile AAB starchy banana that closely resembles plantains. ‘Taju Lagada’ is an AA diploid Banana having a long bunch with many hands. BITA-3’ produces heavy bunches.


• Banana breeding programme has been taken up in Honduras by the Fundacion Hondurena De Investigation Agricola (FHIA) with the aim of developing superior diploid plantations combining desirable agronomic traits with resistance, which is then used for production of primary tetraploids. This organization has developed many FHIA hybrids, which possess resistance to nematodes, Fusarium wilt etc. Introduction and testing of these hybrids in India in various centers revealed superior performance of FHIA-1, FHIA-3, FHIA-21 and FHIA-25.

Mutation breeding

• Bud mutation in Indian banana is very common perhaps due to spontaneous rearrangement of chromosomes in somatic meristem and structural re-assortment. A great majority of edible bananas are triploids, a condition that interferes with normal equilibrium of plants and may provide the requisite stimulus to structural rearrangement of chromosomes, leading ultimately to the evolution of a new gene complex. Several natural sports of well established commercial clones have been recognized e.g) High gate (AAA) is a semi-dwarf mutant of Gros Michel (AAA), Motta Poovan (AAB) is a sport of Poovan (AAB), Ayiranka Rasthali a sport of Rasthali (or Silk), Barhari Malbhog is a sport of Malbhog, Krishna Vazhai is a natural mutant of Virupakshi (or Pome), and Sambrani Monthan (ABB), a mutant of Monthan (ABB).


• In Nendran, more than six mutants have been recognized. One of these, Moongil, has undergone such a radical change that there is no male phase and a bunch has only one or two hands with biggest size fruits. Attu Nendran, Nana Nendran, Myndoli, Velathan and Nenu Nendran are a few mutants which have been selected for one or the other desirable character. Similarly, Ambalakadali and Erachi vazhai are mutants of Red Banana.


• The Kunnan variety of Malabar has provided a few mutants known as Thattilla Kunnan (male phase absent), Veneetu Kunnan, Adakka Kunnan and Thaen Kunnan. From cv.Monthan, Sambal Monthan, Nalla Bontha Batheesa, Sambrani Monthan, Pidi Monthan and Thellatti Bontha have been recognized as sports. At INIVIT, Cuba induced mutations of ABB cooking banana, Burrow Cemsa, was obtained (Rodriguez Nodals et.al., 1992). At TBRI, Taiwan, Tai Chiao 1 and GCTV, triploid bananas with Fusarium wilt resistance are obtained as a result of clonal variation of AAA Cavendish banana (Hawang 1991, Hwang and KO, 1988,1989). The early flowering FATOM 1 was developed as a result of in vitro gamma irradiated meristem culture of cv.Grand Naine has been released in Malaysia.


Biotechnology

• Plant tissue culture and molecular biology techniques are applied to enhance the handling and improvement of banana. Important application of a cell biology are micro propagation for rapid multiplication and germplasm exchange, embryo culture/rescue for in-vitro seed germination, cryopreservation of germplasm and genome manipulation through genetic engineering using cell suspensions or protoplast culture. Although, Vylsteke et al. (1996) reported that somaclonal variation through micropropagation is of limited use in plantain breeding, it has been successfully applied in Taiwan for the development of improved Cavendish banana cultivars with resistance to Fusarium wilt and acceptable fruit quality (Hwang 1991, Hwang and Ko, 1989).


• In gene transfer methods, Sagi et al. (1995), from Katholieke University, Leuven. Belgium reported that the transgenic triploid cooking banana showing transient expression of GUS marker gene in pot growing in the green house from DNA particle bombardment on ABB cooking banana. The molecular markers are providing tools for phylogenetic investigations and cultivar identification, basic genetic research, marker assisted selection and diagnostics in pathogen identification.


Source of resistance

Name of the clone/cultivars	Name of the biotic and abiotic stress
Musa balbisiana Calcutta-4 Pisang Lilin SH3142 (Diploid hybrid) Musa acuminata sp malaccensis Musa acuminata sp burmannica Pisang Jari Buaya (PJB) Tongat and Anaikomban	Drought Black sigatoka Panama wilt (Race1) Race 1 of Fusarium Race 1 and Race 2 of Fusarium Bacterial wilt race 2, Moko disease Burrowing nematode Nematodes