Musa balbisiana

Musa balbisiana Colla^[1] is a wild species of bananas. It is at the origin of many edible bananas through its hybridization with Musa acuminata and is associated with tolerance to abiotic stresses.

Colla partly based his description on a drawing in Rumphius' Herbarium Amboinense, a catalogue of the plants of the island of Amboina (Ambon Island in modern-day Indonesia), published posthumously in 1741^[2].

A draft genome sequence was produced by Belgian and Malaysian scientists using the Pisang Klutuk Wulung genebank accession^[3]. A reference sequence is being produced by a French-Chinese team^[4].

Main characteristics

Host reaction to pests and diseases

Musa balbisiana accessions displayed resistance to Xanthomonas wilt in a greenhouse trial^[5]. In later screenhouse and field trials, Musa balbisiana plants were symptom-free 6 weeks after a single inoculation at dosages that caused disease on the Pisang Awak controls^[6]. Disease symptoms were observed six weeks after a second inoculation, but only at the highest dosages.

References

See also