15 A Case for Molecular Breeding in Musa Michael Pillay, 1, * Kaliyaperumal Ashokkumar, 2,a Arun Siva Kumar Shunmugam 2,b and Sivalingam Elayabalan 3 ABSTRACT Conventional breeding of Musa that is based mainly on mass phenotypic recurrent selection is handicapped by a number of factors. The rapid development of molecular biology techniques and their application to plant breeding has resulted in significant genetic gains in agricultural crops. Marker assisted breeding will be very useful for a crop like banana that has a relatively long life cycle. DNA markers are being sought for several characters of importance in Musa including resistance to pests and diseases. Achievements and prospects of molecular breeding for black Sigatoka, Fusarium, Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), nematodes and Xanthomonas wilt resistance are discussed. In addition gains made in nutritional enhancement of banana are described. The development of modern plant molecular and quantitative genetics in the last two decades has the potential to revolutionize what has mostly been experienced-based empirical plant breeding. This chapter outlines the value of modern molecular tools for molecular breeding of banana. Keywords: breeding challenges, molecular markers, molecular breeding achievements 1 Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1900, Gauteng, South Africa. 2 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5A8. a e-mail: biotech.ashok@gmail.com b e-mail: anbeshivam481@gmail.com 3 Crop Tech Ltd, P.O. Box 1367 Arusha, Tanzania; e-mail: balabiotech@gmail.com *Corresponding author List of abbreviations after the text. © 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC