Field Performance and RAPD Analysis of Gamma-Irradiated Variants of Banana Cultivar 'Giant Cavendish' (AAA)

Multiple shoot cultures established from shoot tip cultures of an elite cultivar of banana 'Giant Cavendish' (Musa spp. AAA group) were irradiated with gamma rays (5, 10, and 30 Gy) and the resulting plant populations were field evaluated for their agronomical performance. A few variant plants were selected for their agronomic traits, including dwarf stature and early flowering and characterized through RAPD analysis. In the case of 30 Gy irradiated plants, although dwarf stature was noted, the yield was comparable to control plants. The GC rich primers exhibited DNA amplification in the variants with a total of 717 bands, of which 44% were polymorphic. These results suggest that the gamma irradiation can be employed for recovering agronomic variants in 'Cavendish' bananas.