Posted on 06/20/2025 6:17:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new genome mapping model uncovered 62 key trait loci in bananas, overcoming chromosomal barriers and aiding future crop improvement across complex plant genomes.
Bananas are a dietary staple for millions of people, but their cultivation faces serious threats due to limited genetic diversity and significant breeding challenges. In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers examined more than 2,700 triploid banana hybrids to uncover the genetic basis of 24 important traits related to yield, plant structure, and fruit quality. By using a high-resolution SNP dataset along with an adapted genome-wide association study (GWAS) model, the team identified 62 genomic regions associated with these traits, known as quantitative trait loci (QTLs).
Many of these QTLs would have gone undetected using conventional methods because of the large chromosomal rearrangements found in banana genomes. These findings provide a valuable genetic roadmap for improving banana varieties and offer new strategies for breeding crops with complex genomes.
Breeding bananas is notoriously difficult. Most commercial bananas are sterile triploids, which means they reproduce without seeds and have limited genetic recombination, along with long and slow growth cycles. Further complicating breeding efforts, many banana varieties contain large chromosomal rearrangements that interfere with inheritance patterns and make it difficult to identify trait-linked genes.
Although there are thousands of banana cultivars globally, production is dominated by just a few, such as the widely grown ‘Cavendish’, making the entire crop susceptible to pests and environmental changes.
While GWAS has revolutionized genetic research in many crops, it has been less effective in bananas due to these genomic barriers. As global food systems face mounting challenges, understanding and addressing the complex genetics of bananas has become more urgent. To tackle this, researchers focused on developing more effective models for identifying useful genetic traits.
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Now you’re scaring me….I’m gonna have nightmares…I have a loaded pistol in the nightstand, just in case.
LOL!.....................
Sometimes very smart people write quite stupidly (re the author cited as 'Nanjing Agricultural University The Academy of Science').
The answer lies in the following passage at the source:
Notably, the study revealed how structural genome variation can both mask and mimic genetic signals, complicating trait discovery. By adjusting for these effects, the Kc model sets a precedent for future work in bananas and other crops with complex genomic architectures.My interpretation: Haphazard breeding in conjunction with understudied unique characteristics of the fruit which complicate plant breeding. There are probably many other crops which may be exposed as vulnerable under such studious analysis despite the lousy summation.“Chromosomal rearrangements have long clouded our view of banana genetics,” said Dr. Guillaume Martin, lead author and genomics researcher at CIRAD. “This study turns that obstacle into an opportunity. By tailoring GWAS methods to banana’s unique genomic structure, we’ve uncovered important trait loci that were previously invisible. This not only benefits banana breeding—it opens a methodological path for other crops facing similar challenges. Our work shows that, with the right tools, even highly complex genomes can yield practical insights for crop improvement.”
These QTL discoveries offer breeders concrete tools for improving banana varieties.
In this case, I've personally noticed a decline in banana quality across multiple varieties for a number of years, having settled on one brand of organic banana as the highest quality (Dole); some stores I will no longer patronize for the fruit due to the product offered. I don't believe that I'm alone.
Chiquita Banana brand’s mascot, Miss Chiquita Banana was inspired by Hollywood’s Carmen Miranda.
In doing that research I discovered she died at 46 years old of a heart attack.....very sad.
Wow, very sad indeed. Looking up that clip, I got to wondering what happened to her.
I have noticed that as well. By limiting the number of different banana species available to the market they are essentially cutting their own commercial throats. A single disease could wipe out the entire industry in a very short time.............
Ironically, I seem to recall an article about just that (disease) a number of years ago, but I can’t recall the context.
Interesting. I never thought of it, but bananas are remarkably consistent, as opposed to, say, the vast differences in apple varieties.
The ones you see in the supermarkets are all clones.................
“”””I have several banana trees in the back yard but they never make any because it takes 18 months and the frost kills them back to the ground every winter...................””””
As a kid our tree in Houston produced some bananas one year, I know.
You should consider a cheap hot house over one of the trees and try to get it to produce.
They are growing right next to my greenhouse!............
Frank Silver and Irving Cohn would be proud.
We started selectively breeding all out food crops centuries ago, so no. The only thing that’s really changed is we’re more direct now.
Yes, we have no bananas!..............
Natural Hybridization is one thing. That is still natural and the laws of nature allow it. Genetically manipulating DNA is something completely wrong... If it can’t happen naturally then it was not meant to happen and should not happen. It is playing God...
https://foodsafety.institute/food-biotechnology/ethical-considerations-gm-foods/
Selective breeding is the opposite of natural hybridization. It’s pushing plants in a direction WE like, that wouldn’t happen naturally. Corn only exists because people decided it should, that was a decision made 9000 years ago, but they bred for it, emphasizing traits that made it good food, but wound up with something that propagate without us. The only difference between what we do now and they did to make corn is we’ve got killer microscopes and labs to figure out what gene makes this trait happen and push it that way, they just figured cross pollination through trial and error and got lucky.
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