Special Issue "Developments in the Genetics and Breeding of Banana Species"

Dear Colleagues,

With 120 million metric tons produced per year, bananas (Musa spp.), consumed as a fruit or vegetable, are a major economically important fruit crop grown throughout the world’s tropical and subtropical regions. Bananas are a cash crop sold on local and international markets, and are simultaneously a staple food for several million people worldwide. Whether they are intended for export, domestic markets or self-consumption, their production is endangered by several diseases (cercosporiosis, fusariosis) and pests (nematodes, weevils), but also by today’s changing climate due to global warming.

Banana breeding aims to develop improved cultivars with resistance to major pathogens and pests, while maintaining agronomic performance and fruit quality; this may contribute to the sustainability of their production, by reducing the negative environmental impacts of industrial plantations, and enhancing the food security and sovereignty of the countries producing bananas for local consumption. However, banana breeding is particularly complex, since cultivars need to be sterile to produce seedless edible fruits. The genome complexity of banana cultivars (interspecificity, polyploidy and high levels of genetic and structural heterozygosity), and the lack of knowledge on the genetics of the targeted traits, are further challenges posed to banana crossbreeding.

This Special Issue on “Developments in the Genetics and Breeding of Banana Species” will thus focus on scientific and technical advances in the field of banana’s conventional breeding, genetics and genomics; this will facilitate and accelerate the development of cultivars that meet the expectations of the markets, both today and in the future.

Dr. Sébastien Ricci
Prof. Dr. Rodomiro Ortiz
Dr. Nicolas Roux
Guest Editors

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• banana/Musa
• breeding techniques
• QTLs
• GWAS
• genomic