Genetic dissimilarity of putative gamma-ray-induced 'Preciosa-AAAB-Pome type' banana (Musa sp) mutants based on multivariate statistical analysis.
Bananas are among the most important fruit crops  worldwide, being cultivated in more than 120 countries, mainly by small-scale  producers. However, short-stature high-yielding bananas presenting good  agronomic characteristics are hard to find. Consequently, wind continues to  damage a great number of plantations each year, leading to lodging of plants  and bunch loss. Development of new cultivars through conventional genetic  breeding methods is hindered by female sterility and the low number of seeds.  Mutation induction seems to have great potential for the development of new  cultivars. We evaluated genetic dissimilarity among putative 'Preciosa' banana  mutants generated by gamma-ray irradiation, using morphoagronomic characteristics  and ISSR markers. The genetic distances between the putative 'Preciosa' mutants  varied from 0.21 to 0.66, with a cophenetic correlation coefficient of 0.8064.  We found good variability after irradiation of 'Preciosa' bananas; this  procedure could be useful for banana breeding programs aimed at developing  short-stature varieties with good agronomic characteristics.
Departamento de Fitotecnia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brasil.
R K N
RK
Pestana
E P
EP
Amorim
C F
CF
Ferreira
V B O
VB
Amorim
L S
LS
Oliveira
C A S
CA
Ledo
S O
SO
Silva
D001947:Breeding; D005720:Gamma Rays; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D028521:Musa / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics