Quote:
Originally Posted by permaculturekidd
Since you said this type of banana would be the easiest to domesticate how long do you suppose a 2" or 3" inch 80% seed fruit can change to a 4" to 6" 50% or lower seed would take?
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One issue is that in normal seeded bananas, pulp growth and fruit development is triggered by the growth of the seeds after the ovules have been fertilized. In edible, non-seeded bananas, pulp growth is triggered by an autonomous auxin release which makes the pulp that is there enlarge without regard for seed growth. If you were to breed a seeded banana that had less seeds, my prediction would be that the fruit would just be smaller, as fewer seeds would mean less pulp. I have collected seeded bananas in which only a portion of the ovules are fertilized, and the fruits are smaller and misshapen because where the seeds are lacking, pulp is also lacking. In order to replace the seeds with pulp, there needs to be another stimulus to trigger pulp growth, this is where the autonomous auxin release would come in, and though there are wild seeded bananas that can do this, and will form pulp without seeds if they don't get pollinated, that kind of mutation is rare and something that would require the growing out of many countless seeds in the hopes of finding that one rare mutant.