TITLE:
Molecular Diversity in Selected Banana Clones (Musa AAA “Cavendish”) Adapted to the Subtropical Environment of Formosa Province (Argentina)
AUTHORS:
José Luis Ermini, Gerardo Carlos Tenaglia, Guillermo Raúl Pratta
KEYWORDS:
Agronomy Biodiversity, Autotriploidy, Molecular Characterization, Multivariate Analysis, Plant Genetic Resources
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.9 No.12,
November
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: Banana production dates
from the 1920s in Argentina. Rhizomes were introduced and dispersed by
immigrants from bordering countries in the Northern provinces. There is scarce
information on its genetic diversity to assist in crop breeding programs; hence
studies of genetic structure between populations and individuals are
fundamental for future use. Molecular markers assess the diversity of the crop.
This study employed Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism to investigate the
genetic variation in local banana plants from farmer’s fields. Forty-four
rhizomes (selected from a total of 860 plants for being stable for production)
were used as plant material and 6 primer combinations selected in a previous
report were used. Polymorphic fragments present in a given genotype were
assigned 1 and those absent were assigned 0. The matrix generated was analyzed
by univariate and multivariate analysis. A total 540 bands were scored, of
which 100% were polymorphic. The number of the pattern duplicated bands was 23 and twenty-one amplicons were exclusive to
banana plants collected in the same farmer’s field. Hierarchical clustering and
principal coordinates analyses showed differences between genotypes. The
cophenetic correlation of the cluster was 0.63 while the 18% of the total
molecular variation was explained by the two principal coordinates. These
analyses evidence genetic diversity of the crop according to farmer’s field. In
agreement to this observation, analysis of molecular variance revealed that
8.9% of the variation was found among farmer populations and 91.1% within
farmer populations. In conclusion, introduction of banana into the subtropical
zone was associated with a broader genetic variation in order to increase the
genetic homeostasis necessary for adapting the crop to the suboptimal
environment of Northeastern Argentinean Formosa Province.