This project will elucida karyotype changes that accompanied the evolution and speciation within the Musaceae and reveal difference in chromosome structure between diploid and triploid economically important edible banana clones and their putative parents. Multidisciplinary approaches, including Next-Gen sequencing, bioinformatics and molecular cytogenetics (new chromosome painting method), will be used to identify and characterize structural chromosome changes. The results will clarify the origin of the important crop and facilitate efficient breeding dy selecting parental genotypes.