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A wild banana that may be crucial for the protection of edible banana plantations has been placed on the list of threatened species.
It only exists in Madagascar, Africa, where the last five adult feet of the plant are in the nature
Scientists say the species must be preserved because it may contain the secrecy of banana safety in the future.
Most bananas consumed worldwide are of the Cavendish type, the banana nanica group. These bananas are particularly vulnerable to a parasite known as Panama's disease.
Researchers are trying to develop new varieties that are both tasty and resistant to the pest.
Wild banana from Madagascar has developed in isolation, since banana is composed of silver bananas and apples. (19459004) Ensete perrieri) may have developed a resistance to extinction of the species, but it is an island in the Indian Ocean, and may have particular properties.
Richard Allen, advisor to the Kew Royal Botanic Garden in London.
"She does not suffer from the harm of Panama, so maybe she has genetic traits that protect her from the disease," he says
"We will not know it before looking for the banana, but we can not search until it is safe. "
Botanical Garden researchers searched the plant in Madagascar and concluded that it was virtually extinct in nature.
They hope that the inclusion of the species in the red list
Helen Ralimanana of the London Botanical Garden says that the plant is part of the rich ecosystem of Madagascar
" It is very important to conserve wild banana because it has a great "If wild bananas are protected, there will be ways to harvest seeds and to badyze the genetic makeup of the plant
Madagascar banana produces seeds that can offer an opportunity to find a gene that enhances the cultivated banana.
Why are banana trees vulnerable to disease? Why are banana trees vulnerable to disease?
Bananas breed by cloning, so that there is little genetic variation between their different types.
If the disease reaches a plant, it can quickly affect the entire population. of this variety.
For the time being, markets offer fruit in abundance. But the situation could change in the future.
The disease that attacks Cavendish is, for the moment, confined to Asia. When it arrives in the Americas, it can wind up plantations all over the world.
This has already occurred in the 1950s with a type of banana called Gros Michel. It is believed that the song "Yes! We Have No Bananas', by American trumpet player Louis Prima, was inspired by the lack of Gros Michel bananas, affected by the same fungus behind the sickness of Panama [19659002]
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