In vitro Multiplication and Conservation of a Diploid Landrace of Banana

Abstract

South India is well-known for its diverse Musa genotypes and diploid landraces, which can be found in cultivated or wild pockets. Young and healthy sword suckers of Musa acuminata landrace Chingan (AA) were collected from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, and used as explants for in vitro regeneration in the current study. After 60 days of culture, MS medium supplemented with 0.1 or 0.2 mg/l TDZ induced numerous tiny shoot initials, which increased to an average of 37.29 ± 1.08 and 29.57 ± 0.84, respectively, after 120 days. When 2iP or Kinetin was combined with BAP, it was much more effective than when used alone in the formation of shoots. For the diploid landrace Chingan, the current study established an efficient and reproducible micropropagation protocol (AA). The current study highlighted the potential of TDZ to induce in vitro multiplication in banana shoot tip cultures. The conservation and genetic improvement of native diploids is critical to preventing genetic erosion caused by repeated cloning of only a few selected high yielding clones, making them susceptible to many diseases. Banana diploid land races are important in breeding programmes, and their preservation is urgently needed