The Identity of Wild Banana from Bengkulu Revealed by Internal Transcribed Spacer Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55981/floribunda.2026.16128Keywords:
DNA barcoding, internal transcribed spacer, Musa, SumatraAbstract
Wild bananas are important genetic resources, yet many populations in Indonesia remain poorly documented. This study identified a wild banana specimen from Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, Indonesia, using morphological observations and molecular analysis of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Morphological characterization included vegetative and reproductive traits, while genomic DNA was extracted from dried leaf tissue and amplified using universal ITS primers. PCR amplification produced an approximately 900 bp fragment, which was sequenced and analyzed using BLAST and phylogenetic methods. The ITS sequence showed the highest similarity to Musa salaccensis Zoll. ex Kurz, with 99.70% and 99.41% identity to GenBank accessions MK779039.1 and FJ428072.1, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis placed the Bengkulu specimen within the M. salaccensis clade with strong bootstrap support (94%). Morphological traits were also consistent with those of M. salaccensis. These results confirm that the wild banana specimen from Bengkulu is M. salaccensis and provide valuable information for the documentation and conservation of wild banana diversity in Indonesia.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Aura Annisa Rahma, Syaiful Azhar, Pandu Gusti Ananda, Isna Arofatun Nikmah, Muhammad Rifqi Hariri
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