Bananas turned out not to be what we thought they were.
Indeed, in most cases, when ripe, they are peanut butter dusted yellow, sweet and delicious.However, a global survey revealed More Attractive Counterparts Red or blue, squat or bulbous, seeded or seedless edible varieties than the common bananas found in American supermarkets.
And the banana family tree as a whole is even more diverse and mysterious than previously thought. study It was published in the magazine Frontiers in Plant Science earlier this month.
“Banana diversity is not as well described and documented as we thought,” said Julie Sardos, a botanist with the Bioversity International Research Group and study author. says. “It was really overlooked by past researchers.”
She and her colleagues analyzed the genetic material of hundreds of different bananas and found that there are at least three ancestors of wild bananas that botanists have yet to discover. Knowing that our missing wild ancestors are out there, like the revelation of a long-lost relative, changes our view of bananas and is a potential way to fortify crops against disease. may provide the
The flesh of the wild banana, or Musa acuminata, is so dense with seeds that the fruit is almost inedible. Scientists believe that bananas were domesticated on the island of New Guinea he more than 7,000 years ago. The humans of the island at that time propagated the plants to bear fruit without fertilization and without seeds. They were able to develop a very tasty banana without any formal knowledge of the principles of heredity and evolution.
As trade routes and linguistic links spread, so did the new bananas. It picked up on genetic complexity as farmers crossed it with other wild banana species in what became Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Today, it is possible to trace the ancestry of these bananas by using genetic markers to simulate breeding patterns in computer programs. This procedure can reveal what trade routes and agricultural practices were established in different communities. Dr. Sardos also said:
However, when Dr. Sardos and her colleagues performed this analysis on a collection of domesticated bananas, they found three unexplained ancestors. One appears to have a strong genetic imprint on bananas from Southeast Asia. The other was localized around Borneo. The third person seems to be New Guinea. However, these wild ancestors have remained a complete mystery to scientists, except that they left genetic marks in specific geographical clusters of cultivated banana plants.
“Their data suggest that there was domestication in parts of the South Pacific that were not previously thought,” says James, a plant biologist at the University of Georgia who was not involved in the new study. says Leebens-Mack. “cool.”
Finding these mysterious ancestors is also practical. According to Dr. Sardos, seedless, automatically fruiting bananas are sterile, making modern breeding of different bananas incredibly complicated. “We have to go back to wild bananas,” she says, figuring out how to make fertile plants that resemble edible bananas. of sterile bananas must be created.
Due to the difficulty of breeding new bananas, most plantations around the world, mainly in Africa and Central America, grow only one variety, the Cavendish, the most widely consumed variety in the world. However, the low genetic diversity of banana crops makes them more susceptible to disease, which is dangerous.
“You hear it all the time,” said Dr. Leebens-Mack.
Breeders need to go back to wild bananas to diversify banana genetics and make the crop more resilient. They can look at a variety of wild traits to determine the best traits to ward off disease and fungal outbreaks and even adapt to extreme climates.Pamela Soltis, a botanist at the Florida Museum of Natural History “Rather than sticking to just the typical banana, utilizing these other cultivated strains may be the solution.”
However, in order to do this, the banana family tree needs to be clearer. Dr. Sardos hopes that the discovery of the banana’s mysterious ancestor will inspire scientists to delve deeper into the banana’s genetic history.
“What we hope is, if not exactly, to add some weight to the plea for more expeditions to collect bananas,” she said.
Another author of the study, Matthew Luard, a colleague of Dr. Sardos at Bioversity International who has been studying bananas for nearly 20 years, added: But even after all this time, there is still much to discover. ”
I’m looking for bananas.