Musa balbisiana explained

Musa balbisiana, also known simply as plantain, is a wild-type species of banana. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas, along with Musa acuminata.

Description

It grows lush leaves in clumps with a more upright habit than most cultivated bananas. Flowers grow in inflorescences coloured red to maroon. The fruit are between blue and green. They are considered inedible because of the seeds they contain.

Taxonomy

It was first scientifically described in 1820 by the Italian botanist Luigi Aloysius Colla.^[1]

Distribution

It is native to eastern South Asia, the eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, northern Southeast Asia, and southern China. Introduced populations exist in the wild, far outside its native range.^[2]

Uses

It is assumed that wild bananas were cooked and eaten, as farmers would not have developed the cultivated banana otherwise. Seeded Musa balbisiana fruit are called butuhan ('with seeds') in the Philippines,^[3] and kluai tani (กล้วยตานี) in Thailand,^[4] where its leaves are used for packaging and crafts.^[5] Natural parthenocarpic clones occur through polyploidy and produce edible bananas, examples of which are wild saba bananas.^[6]

Genome

Musa balbisiana contributed the B genome to the cultivated banana.

Wang et al., 2019 provides a genome, evolutionary analysis and functional genomics analysis. Wang et al. find evolution increasing ethylene production in the domesticated form.^[7]

See also

• List of banana cultivars
• Plantain
• Nang Tani

External links

• Musa balbisiana
• A type of wild banana

Notes and References

1. Borborah . Kongkona . Borthakur . S. K. . Tanti . Bhaben . 2016-06-23 . A new variety of Musa balbisiana Colla from Assam, India . Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy . en . 23 . 1 . 75–78 . 10.3329/bjpt.v23i1.28348 . 2224-7297.
2. Perrier. Xavier. Langhe. Edmond De. Donohue. Mark. Lentfer. Carol. Vrydaghs. Luc. Bakry. Frédéric. Carreel. Françoise. Hippolyte. Isabelle. Horry. Jean-Pierre. Jenny. Christophe. Lebot. Vincent. 2011-07-12. Multidisciplinary perspectives on banana (Musa spp.) domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 108. 28. 11311–11318. 10.1073/pnas.1102001108. 3136277. 21730145. 2011PNAS..10811311P. free.
3. Web site: Progenitors of Edible Bananas. November 1, 2010. Guide to Growing Bananas . January 12, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110707210203/http://www.bananacrop.com/2010/01/progenitors-of-edible-bananas-in.html. July 7, 2011.
4. Book: Plant use in Southern Thailand. Chiang Mai University. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413143722/http://archive.lib.cmu.ac.th/full/T/2005/biol0805uu_ch4.pdf. 2014-04-13.
5. News: Karnjanatawe . Karnjana . Going bananas . 19 August 2019 . Bangkok Post . 19 August 2019.
6. Web site: Sorting Musa names. Michel H. Porcher. Prof. Snow Barlow. July 19, 2002. The University of Melbourne . January 11, 2011.

7. 1. 1. 2020. Van den houwe. Ines. Chase. Rachel. Sardos. Julie. Ruas. Max. Kempenaers. Els. Guignon. Valentin. Massart. Sebastien. Carpentier. Sebastien. Panis. Bart. Rouard. Mathieu. Roux. Nicolas. Safeguarding and using global banana diversity: a holistic approach. 257187109. 10.1186/s43170-020-00015-6. CABI Agriculture and Bioscience. free. 10568/110253. free.

   This review cites this research.

   8. 5. 2019. Wang. 810–821. Zhuo. Miao. Hongxia. Liu. Juhua. Xu. Biyu. Yao. Xiaoming. Xu. Chunyan. Zhao. Shancen. Fang. Xiaodong. Jia. Caihong. Wang. Jingyi. Zhang. Jianbin. Li. Jingyang. Xu. Yi. Wang. Jiashui. Ma. Weihong. Wu. Zhangyan. Yu. Lili. Yang. Yulan. Liu. Chun. Guo. Yu. Sun. Silong. Baurens. Franc-Christophe. Martin. Guillaume. Salmon. Frederic. Garsmeur. Olivier. Yahiaoui. Nabila. Hervouet. Catherine. Rouard. Mathieu. Laboureau. Nathalie. Habas. Remy. Ricci. Sebastien. Peng. Ming. Guo. Anping. Xie. Jianghui. Li. Yin. Ding. Zehong. Yan. Yan. Tie. Weiwei. D’Hont. Angélique. Hu. Wei. Jin. Zhiqiang. Nature Plants. 196814208. 10.1038/s41477-019-0452-6. Musa balbisiana genome reveals subgenome evolution and functional divergence. 31308504. 6784884.