Eradication of mosaic disease and rapid clonal multiplication of bananas and plantains through meristem tip culture

Heat therapy and meristem tip culturing were used in various cultivars of banana (Musa acuminata AAA cvs Grande Naine and Valary), and plantain (Musa acuminata x M. balbisiana AAB cvs Maricongo, Common Dwarf and Super Plantain) for rapid clonal propagation of mosaic disease-free plants. Suckers were subjected to heat therapy at 38–40°C for 14 days prior to the culture of their meristem tips (1.5–2.0 mm long having 6–8 vertical incisions) on modified MS medium containing 1.0 mg l^-1 thiamine HCl, 0.5 mg l^-1 nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg l^-1 pyridoxine HCl, 25 mg l^-1 ascorbic acid (filter sterilized), 0.7 mg l^-1 BA and 0.7 mg l^-1 kinetin. This culture medium alone was effective in preventing the oxidation of phenolic compounds present in explants, and in producing up to 13 rooted plantlets from a single meristem within 10 to 12 weeks. Plants derived from heat-treated meristems of infected plants were free from the disease, as determined by visual inspection, mechanical inoculation to Cucumis sativus, and electron microscopy.