AGRONOMIC AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF GAMMA RAY-INDUCED BANANA (MUSA SP.) MUTANTS USING A MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ALGORITHM

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the genetic variability in putative ‘Pacovan’ (AAB) mutants obtained through gamma ray-irradiation, using a set of agronomical and molecular data (ISSR markers). The distance between the putative ‘Pacovan’ mutants varied from 0.26 to 0.64 with cophenetic correlation coefficient of 0.7669. Four mutants were selected based on best agronomic characteristics, including plant stature. Data show that there is variability that can be explored after the irradiation of ‘Pacovan’ bananas, which can be used in a banana breeding program aiming to develop new shorter cultivars that also present other good agronomic characteristics. This is the first attempt to use combined data in order to evaluate the genetic variability in putative banana mutants.