2017 ASHS Annual Conference

East African diploid (cooking) bananas (EADB or Mchare) are a staple crop for millions of consumers in Tanzania and Kenya. Molecular phylogenic studies suggest that representatives of this group may also be the closest known diploid relatives to the commercially important dessert varieties ‘Cavandish’ and ‘Gros Michel’. Currently, threats to banana and plantain production worldwide from fungal pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) and Sigatoka disease complex endanger both the staple cooking bananas of East African and the worldwide export market of dessert bananas. Sources of resistance to these diseases have been identified but successful introgression of resistance is impeded by several factors that include partial to complete male sterility which complicates breeding efforts. Despite their close relationship to ‘Cavendish’, little is known about genetic diversity among EADP and how this relates to pollen production and viability. Pollen production and viability was measured over a nine month period in 2016/2017 for 10 replicated clones of Mchare cultivars. While all Mchare cultivars showed less pollen production than standard check varieties such as ‘Calcutta 4’, significant variation was observed and potential seasonal effects are discussed. The cultivars fell into 3 categories: moderate pollen production, reduced pollen production and sterile. In addition the same 10 Mchare cultivars were genotyped using microsatellite markers, along with five EADB cultivars from Kenya (‘Mararu’). The relationship among these cultivars is described as is the potential impact of this information on worldwide improvement of Banana. The results show that while these bananas are closely related to each other, there are significant differences in pollen production and viability.