Estimation of seasonal, additive and non-additive genetic components in diploid banana (Musa spp.).

Abstract:This study focuses on improving the efficiency of breeding diploid bananas for important traits such as yield, fruit sizes and weight. The partitioning of genetic variance into its additive and non-additive components is crucial. This is difficult in most commonly available family structures in banana breeding due to reduced fertility and complications of ploidy. However, the availability of replicated clones of full-sib progeny allows for greater insight into the genetics of perennial diploid banana. Clones of nine full-sib families generated in a factorial mating design consisting of six diploid parthenocarpic female and two wild diploid male banana (Musa spp.) parents, were evaluated at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Arusha. Data was collected over two harvests (plant crop and first ratoon) to provide a better understanding of the genetic architecture of key traits and their seasonal influence. Pedigree-based models were fitted to the data to estimate additive, dominance, epistatic variance components and seasonal effects. Additive variance was the major source of genetic variance for most traits. Dominance and epistatic variances were non-significant for most traits with a few exceptions. Broad-sense and narrow-sense heritability estimates were high for most traits. There was a significant positive correlation between the yield traits and between the plant and first ratoon crop for yield traits, which will be helpful in accelerating selection and improving genetic gains of yield traits. These results improve our understanding of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits in bananas and lay a foundation for further study in this almost recalcitrant to crossbreeding but important crop.

Publication year:2025

Keywords:Plant & soil science & technology, Plant sciences

Accessibility:Open

Review status:Peer-reviewed