The project focuses on seed-based collection of banana progenitors and a validation of new approach to breeding that will be much more efficient than current breeding schemes. The outputs of the project should lead to adoption of a much more efficient banana breeding system for small-scale producers (SSPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa. A possible spillover outcome could be the revamping of other major banana breeding programs that target other regions if desired by BRIN.
Our main contribution to the project involves cytogenetics and genomic studies to reveal genome structure and to elucidate chromosome rearrangements and their impact on bananas breeding.