P-016 - Building a Musa NLRome to understand bananas

Bananas and plantains are severely affected by biotic stresses endangering global production. Their clonal and hybrid nature makes breeding a major challenge. Gene-editing comes as a viable alternative. However, knowledge of Musa sp. diversity is limited. This project aimed to characterize the immune components of Musa sp., focusing on intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat immune receptors (NLRs) to build a Musa NLRome. NLRs recognition of pathogen effectors triggers plant immunity and has proven to aid disease resistance in crops.

 


We analysed 201 accessions representative of global Musa diversity, identifying 27 groups, including five wild relatives. The groups were de novo assembled and annotated. Using BRAKER3, motif prediction software, and NLR databases, 3,352 NLRs were identified, with 373 orthologs forming the Musa NLRome: 224 shared, 27 paralogs, and 122 singletons. Assembly-based approaches were used to assess PAV. Gene architecture was assigned using NLRscape database and blast search. Most singleton NLRs were found in wild populations, potentially linked to disease resistance.

Twenty groups were tested for resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (TR4). Five accessions showed resistance, while four were tolerant. We aim to identify NLR genes linked to TR4 resistance and assess in silico their protein-effector interaction. The NLRome will serve as a resource for profiling breeding and gene-editing improved Musa varieties.