Pleliminary study on phylogentic of wild banana in Kelantan

Kelantan is one of the centers for biodiversity in Malaysia and it is home to huge number of bananas including wild and indigenous species. This study in conducted to determine the distribution of wild banana in Kelantan. Seven wild banana populations from Gua Musang and Gunung Chamah area are selected and their morphological characteristics are observed in this study.

Results showed that there are three sprecies of wild banana grows in Kelantan that are M. acuminata spp. malaccensis, M. acuminate spp. truncata and M. gracilis. Morphological characteristics shown by the wild banana observed help to identify the species of wild bananas. Major characteristics like rachis position, male bud shape, bract external color and leaf habit act as guidance to determine the species of the wild banana observed. The distribution of each species was also studied. M. acuminata spp. malaccensis is found in lowland area with the elevation until 100m while M. acuminata spp. trucana and M. gracilis are found at highland with the elevation above 100m. Optiminization of PCR condition for condition for molecular markers was carried out to study the genetic relationsgips within the species.