Bananas– The war on wilt, The Genus Musa

Bananas– The war on wilt, The Genus Musa ; Rody Blom, Saskia Bollerman, Janna Horjus, Koen Rurenga
The genus Musa was initially divided in two species: M. paradisiaca for plantains and M. sapientum for the common banana by Linnaeus, respectively.
However, it was soon discovered that both were falsely identified as separate species and in fact both were hybridized variants of M. paradisiaca and M. balbisiana.
Eventually, M. x paradisiaca was accepted as the general name for the hybrid species (Valmayor et al., 2000)
At the moment the genus comprises four different sections, with each their own characteristics.
Two with 11 chromosome pairs and two with 10 chromosome pairs.
Two with 11 chromosome pairs and two with 10 chromosome pairs. Section Eumusa Baker may be called the group of the true bananas.
It contains the two commonest and most widely ranging species in the genus, M. acuminata and M. balbisiana and with them all the cultivated forms that we believe to have been derived from them.
Bananas and plantains are starchy berries produced by hybrids and/or sports of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana.
Rare genome contributions from another species may have occurred but are not yet well documented (Simmonds, 1986).
M. balbisiana combines with almost anything, which is very interesting in view of its wide range, well-defined nature as a species, and relatively narrow variation (Cheesman, 1947).
Musa balbisiana accessions displayed resistance to Xanthomonas wilt in a greenhouse trial (Tripathi et al., 2008).
Musa acuminata is a wild species of banana best known for being at the origin of the vast majority of edible bananas, by itself or through hybridization with Musa balbisiana.
Four subspecies (banksii, zebrina, malaccensis and burmannica) have been confirmed to be involved in the domestication of the banana (Perrier, 2009).