Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 8(1): 280 - 287. Published August 2008.
Changes in leaf lamina shape and size during banana shoot development
Blomme G*^, Turyagyenda LF*, Soka G* and R Swennen**
*International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP); P.O.Box 24384, Kampala, Uganda; and f.turyagyenda@inibap.co.ug; ** Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium, rony.swennen@biw.kuleuven.be
^Corresponding author email: G.Blomme@CGIAR.orgABSTRACT
Objectives: To assess changes in leaf lamina shape during the growth of lateral shoots and to determine how fast suckers from different genotypes develop broad leaves that are capable of photosynthesis, and thus reduce dependency on the parent for nutrients.
Methodology and results: Assessments of the size of leaf lamina of peeper, sword sucker, maiden sucker and water sucker leaves of Musa spp. were carried out on cultivars Gros Michel (dessert - Musa AAA group) and ‘Gonja’ plants (plantain - Musa AAB group) in Rwanda and on the plantain cultivars Agbagba and Mimi Abue, and the dessert banana ‘Kparanta’ [Musa AAB group in Nigeria. The rate of change in leaf length:width ratio during progressive leaf emissions were assessed on 16 Musa genotypes at the NARO banana farm at Kawanda in Uganda. Leaves of water suckers of all genotypes had significantly wider lamina compared to leaves of sword suckers of the same length. Leaf width of peepers and sword suckers did not exceed 20 cm in most cases and there was a gradual change from sword or lanceolate type of leaves to a broader leaf lamina type. The leaf length:width ratio decreased with an increase in height of the leaf petioles’ insertion point on the pseudostem. All genotypes obtained an RL50 before leaf seven except for ‘Pisang lilin’, ‘Bogoya’ and ‘Fougamou’ suggesting that sucker independence from the mother plant may be delayed in these three genotypes.
Conclusion and application of findings: The progressive leaf lamina broadening of the youngest leaves indicates increased independence of the suckers from the mother plant. Water suckers, which are loosely or not attached to the mother plant and hardly rely on the mother plant for nutrition, develop broad leaves even at the height of large peepers or small sword suckers. Maiden suckers are less dependent on the mother plant suggesting that lateral shoots become less dependent on the mother plants as they increase in size and develop broader leaves.
Key words: lateral shoot independence, maiden sucker, peeper, sword sucker, water sucker
FULL PAPER [PDF AVAILABLE HERE]
