Details for The banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants

D’Hont A, Denoeud F, Aury J-M, Baurens F-C, Carreel F, Garsmeur O, Noel B, Bocs S, Droc G, Rouard M, Da Silva C, Jabbari K, Cardi C, Poulain J, Souquet M, Labadie K, Jourda C, Lengellé J, Rodier-Goud M, Alberti A, Bernard M, Correa M, Ayyampalayam S, MR, Leebens-Mack J, Burgess D, Freeling M, Mbéguié-A-Mbéguié D, Chabannes M, Wicker T, Panaud O, Barbosa J, Hribova E, Heslop-Harrison P, Habas R, Rivallan R, Francois P, Poiron C, Kilian A, Burthia D, Jenny C, Bakry F, Brown S, Guignon V, Kema G, Dita M, Waalwijk C, Joseph S, Dievart A, Jaillon O, Leclercq J, Argout X, Lyons E, Almeida A, Jeridi M, Dolezel J, Roux N, Risterucci A-M, Weissenbach J, Ruiz M, Glaszmann J-C, Quétier F, Yahiaoui N & Wincker P (2012). The banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants. Nature 488(7410): 213–217. (DOI:10.1038/nature11241).

Bananas (Musa spp.), including dessert and cooking types, are giant perennial monocotyledonous herbs of the order Zingiberales, a sister group to the well-studied Poales, which include cereals. Bananas are vital for food security in many tropical and subtropical countries and the most popular fruit in industrialized countries1. The Musa domestication process started some 7,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. It involved hybridizations between diverse species and subspecies, fostered by human migrations2, and selection of diploid and triploid seedless, parthenocarpic hybrids thereafter widely dispersed by vegetative propagation. Half of the current production relies on somaclones derived from a single triploid genotype (Cavendish)1. Pests and diseases have gradually become adapted, representing an imminent danger for global banana production3,4.

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