Survey of isozyme polymorphism for clonal identification in<i>Musa.</i>: I. Esterase, acid phosphatase and catalase

Abstract

The isozymes of esterase, acid phosphatase and catalase were investigated electrophoretically in 44 Indian Musa cultivars belonging to the AB, AAB, ABB and AAA genomic groups. A high degree of polymorphism was prevalent for esterases and acid phosphatases. Catalase was the least polymorphic enzyme system. The number of cultivar specific isozyme ‘phenotypes’ observed were 12 for esterase, 13 for acid phosphatase and one for catalase. No genome specific isozyme patterns were prevalent in the cultivars studied. However, the usefulness of isozyme analysis to distinguish 29 out of 44 cultivars studied has been demonstrated.