Exploration of genetic diversity, drought tolerance and Fusarium resistance of wild bananas in Vietnam

Bananas accommodate the fourth most important global food commodity grown in more than 130 countries in tropical and subtropical regions. Global climate change and the everlasting demand to feed a continuously growing world population puts an increasing pressure on banana breeding and cultivation. In an era of globalization and climate change, it is important that novel and superior alleles are identified and conserved from wild relatives of agricultural crops such as bananas since they hold the key to disease resistance and provide an important response to abiotic stresses such as water deficit. The species rich Vietnamese forests do not only provide important ecosystem services, they are also valuable repositories of M. balbisiana genetic resources. The aim of this FWO-funded project is (1) to map Musa genetic resources of Vietnamese origin already available in ex-situ conservation programs, (2) to gain insight in the distribution of genetic diversity of Musa balbisiana using state-of-the-art high throughput sequencing techniques, and to link genetic diversity with (3) drought tolerance and (4) Fusarium wilt resistance.

Trefwoorden:Fylogenie, Genetische diversiteit, B300-plantenfylogenie, Fusarioseresistentie, Droogteresistentie, B431-tropische-landbouw

Project type:PhD project