title: A platform for efficient genotyping in Musa using microsatellite markers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are one of the major fruit crops worldwide with acknowledged importance as a staple food for millions of people. The rich genetic diversity of this crop is, however, endangered by diseases, adverse environmental conditions and changed farming practices, and the need for its characterization and preservation is urgent. With the aim of providing a simple and robust approach for molecular characterization of Musa species, we developed an optimized genotyping platform using 19 published simple sequence repeat markers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The genotyping system is based on 19 microsatellite loci, which are scored using fluorescently labelled primers and high-throughput capillary electrophoresis separation with high resolution. This genotyping platform was tested and optimized on a set of 70 diploid and 38 triploid banana accessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The marker set used in this study provided enough polymorphism to discriminate between individual species, subspecies and subgroups of all accessions of Musa. Likewise, the capability of identifying duplicate samples was confirmed. Based on the results of a blind test, the genotyping system was confirmed to be suitable for characterization of unknown accessions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Here we report on the first complex and standardized platform for molecular characterization of Musa germplasm that is ready to use for the wider Musa research and breeding community. We believe that this genotyping system offers a versatile tool that can accommodate all possible requirements for characterizing Musa diversity, and is economical for samples ranging from one to many accessions.
authors.affiliation: Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research ,  Institute of Experimental Botany ,  Sokolovská 6, Olomouc CZ-77200 ,  Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christelová
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valárik
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hřibová
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van den Houwe
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Channelière
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.forename: Jaroslav
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doležel