ANALYSIS OF SOMACLONAL VARIATION IN TISSUE CULTURED BANANA PLANTS (MUSA AAA CV. ‘GRAND NAIN’)

Four different types of somaclonal variants were identified and characterized in banana plants generated by meristem culture.
The mutants which displayed different phenotypic characteristics were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). ‘Normal’ appearing banana plants (cv. ‘Grand Nain’) were compared to: ‘Dwarf’, ‘Giant’, and ‘Massada’ (mosaic variegation on the leaves) ‘off-types’.

During the in-vitro stage, tissue cultured ‘off-types’ did not exhibit any visual differences.
However, 8–10 weeks after transfer to the ex-vitro conditions the ‘Dwarf’ ‘off-types’ differed from the ‘Normal’ phenotype in plant height, leaf shape and height between internodes. ‘Massada’ ‘off-types’ had a significantly lower number of stomata per leaf area compared to the other phenotypes.
A total of twenty arbitrary 10-mer oligonucleotide sequences (Operon Technologies, USA) were screened for polymorphic DNA. Changes of the variants from the ‘Normal’ phenotype were observed at least with one set of primers.
Analysis of the RAPD data regarding ‘Dwarf’ and ‘Giant’ ‘off-types’ combined with linkage to other phenotypes may indicate that the mutation is recessive.

III International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding

R. Walther, A. Ilan, A. Lerer, A. Duvdevani, E. Khayat

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.447.80