The banana cultivar ‘Haji’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.) is native to the Lombok Island, Indonesia. The said cultivar has an excellent feature of lengthy shelf life and the potential to significantly improve the banana through breeding. However, cultivar ‘Haji’ has various local names and morphological variations, and therefore, its characterization by molecular markers is necessary to confirm the observed genetic variations. The presented study comprised the examination of the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2)’s capability as a marker to identify the banana cultivar ‘Haji.’ Genetic divergence analysis using ITS2 sequences revealed the banana cultivar Haji’s 10 accessions were closely related, with a divergence coefficient of 0.000 to 0.023. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ITS2 sequence showed all the banana accessions were in the same clade, separating from the out-group accession. The results authenticated all 10 banana accessions with different local names and morphological characters belonged to the cultivar ‘Haji’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.). These findings are vital in developing ITS2 as a DNA barcode for the banana cultivar ‘Haji’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.).
Banana cultivar ‘Haji,’ DNA barcode, genetic divergence, ITS2, molecular marker, morphological characters, phylogenetic analysis, shelf life
The size of the ITS2 sequence of the banana cultivar ‘Haji’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.) accessions was 220 bp, with a 10 bp base difference. The genetic divergence of the cultivar ‘Haji’ accessions based on ITS2 ranged from 0.000 to 0.023, indicating a close kinship. Phylogenetic tree construction showed the banana cultivar ‘Haji’ accessions belonged in the same clade and were far from the out-group accession.