Characterising genome composition and large structural variation in banana varietal groups

Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are one of the most important crops worldwide. The cultivated varieties are vegetatively propagated, and their diversity is essentially fixed over time. Nevertheless, millennia of diversification and selection have led to hundreds of edible varieties. We aimed to characterise chromosomal exchanges and structural variation among lineages to understand shared foundational events and identify sources of allelic diversity in introgressed loci for genetic improvement.