A. D'Hont et al., The interspecific genome structure of cultivated banana, Musa spp. revealed by genomic DNA in situ hybridization, THEOR A GEN, 100(2), 2000, pp. 177-183
In cultivated banana, Musa spp., there are four known genomes, A, B, S, and
T. These correspond to the genetic constitutions of wild Eumusa species M.
acuminata, M. balbisiana. M, schizocarpa and the Australimusa species, res
pectively. Most cultivated clones are triploid or diploid, they have been c
lassified into genomic groups according to chromosome numbers and morpholog
ical traits. Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) enabled us to differentia
te the chromosomes of these four genomes; however, a distal portion of the
chromosomes remained unlabelled. GISH was used to determine the exact genom
e structure of interspecific cultivated clones. In most cases the results w
ere consistent with the chromosome constitution estimated by means of pheno
typic descriptors. The one notable exception, the clone 'Pelipita', has the
8 A and 25 B chromosomes instead of the predicted 11 A and 22 B. GISH also
enabled us to determine the chromosome complement of a few clones that cou
ld not be classified only on the basis of phenotypic descriptors and chromo
some counts. The rDNA sites were located in Musa species. They appeared to
be often associated with satellites, which can be separated from the chromo
somes, representing a potential source of error for chromosome counting usi
ng classical techniques.