In vitro Regeneration of Banana and Assessment of Genetic Fidelity in the Regenerated Plantlets through RAPD

Amrit Sagar belonging to banana (Musa acuminata) genome group AAA is popularly grown in North Eastern part of India for its high yield and natural disease resistance potential. The explants were established initially on supplemented Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) mediums followed by subculturing for multiple shoot induction. Various concentrations of BAP were tested to improve the quality and quantity of multiple shoots induction, out of which 10 mg/l BAP gave the best result. A total of 6-8 cycles of subcultures were carried out, each with an interval of 20-25 days. Among these, well established healthy shoots of 4-5 cm were transferred onto rooting medium containing 10 mg/l sucrose. After 3 weeks, plantlets were carefully acclimatized to adapt the green house condition and subsequently transferred to field. Appearance of off-types of plantlets during the course of micropropagation were assessed with random marker i.e. RAPD for precise monitoring of quality control during rapid mass micropropagation. Out of 15 random decamer primers used, 12 generated well distinguished and reproducible pattern of amplified DNA. The RAPD profile analyzed with NTSYS-pc 2.02, revealed that the tested plantlets were similar to that of the mother plant with a very low level of polymorphism (9%). Thus, it can be asserted that the protocol used to generate the in vitro plantlets is safe and conforms to genetic fidelity.