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IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF SUPERIOR BANANA PHENOTYPES IN THE CULTIVAR DWARF CAVENDISH USING AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND RAPD MARKERS

HAMİDE GUBBUK*, MUSTAFA PEKMEZCİ, A. NACİ ONUS AND MUSTAFA ERKAN

Abstract: Banana production in Turkey occurs in those regions with a subtropical environment. However, there have not been any studies on the identification of superior types via intra-varietal selection. The aim of this study was to identify banana off-types resulting from spontaneous mutations in field and greenhouse grown 'Dwarf Cavendish' banana. Mutations were identified based on the occurrence of altered agronomic parameters and via genetic polymorphisms as detected by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Phenotypic characters evaluated included stem circumference, plant height, leaf number at the flowering stage, bunch stalk circumference, number of fruit hands and fruit number, bunch weight, and fruit circumference and length. Selection studies resulted in identification of 48 off-types; 17 of them were identified in the field and 31 in the greenhouse. Eight of the selected off-types (2 from the field and 6 from the greenhouse) showed high levels of stability for various agronomic characteristics over a 3-year period of observation. These off-types displayed higher levels of variability for morphological characters affecting yield than the control 'Dwarf Cavendish.' Genetic similarities between the types ranged from 0.550 to 0.913 and genetic differences from 0.088 to 0.413, as determined by RAPD analysis. The high levels of genetic polymorphism among banana types indicated that the RAPD technique can be useful in evaluating banana intra-varietal genetic variation. Types 'Alanya 5', 'Gazipasa 11', 'Gazipasa 15', 'Anamur 10', 'Anamur 8' and 'Anamur 12' had the greatest similarities, whereas 'Alanya 5' and the control 'Dwarf Cavendish' were the most distant types. Results indicated that selections on banana grown in subtropical conditions allowed identifying the superior types in terms of yield and quality.
 

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07059, Turkey.
Corresponding Author: Tel: +90 242 2274560, Fax: +90 242 227 4564, gubbuk@akdeniz.edu.tr