Caryologia. International Journal of Cytology, Cytosystematics and Cytogenetics 74(1): 23-31, 2021 Firenze University Press www.fupress.com/caryologia ISSN 0008-7114 (print) | ISSN 2165-5391 (online) | DOI: 10.36253/caryologia-597 Caryologia International Journal of Cytology, Cytosystematics and Cytogenetics Citation: S. Dehury, S. Kumar Dehery, A. Bandhu Das (2021) Karyotype Varia- tion in Eight Cultivars of Indian Des- sert Banana (Musa acuminata L.) of Section Eumusa From Odisha, India. Caryologia 74(1): 23-31. doi: 10.36253/ caryologia-597 Received: April 03, 2020 Accepted: February 05, 2021 Published: July 20, 2021 Copyright: © 2021 S. Dehury, S. Kumar Dehery, A. Bandhu Das. This is an open access, peer-reviewed article published by Firenze University Press (http://www.fupress.com/caryologia) and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distri- bution, and reproduction in any medi- um, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All rel- evant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Competing Interests: The Author(s) declare(s) no conflict of interest. ORCID ABD: 0000-0002-1816-4850 Karyotype Variation in Eight Cultivars of Indian Dessert Banana (Musa acuminata L.) of Section Eumusa From Odisha, India Shomina Dehury1, Subrat Kumar Dehery1, Anath Bandhu Das1,2,* 1 Molecular Cytogenetics Laboratory, Department of Botany, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar - 751004, Odisha, India 2 Centre of Excellence for North East India Studies, (under RUSA 2.0 programme), New Academic Block, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar 751004, Odisha, India. *Corresponding author. E-mail: abdas.uubot@gmail.com; a_b_das@hotmail.com; abdas.uubot@utkaluniversity.ac.in Abstract. Banana (Musa spp.) cultivars especially dessert banana are important cash crop with high market demand all over the world as an integral part of the diet. The need for assessment of cytogenetic characters in Musa cultivars is inevitable as out of thousands of cultivars, cytogenetic characterization of most of them remains unresolved due to difficulties like small chromosome size, diversity in ploidy levels and high cul- tivar diversity which behave differently to standardized cytogenetic protocols. In this report, somatic chromosome number, detailed karyotype analysis including total chro- mosome length, volume, form percentage, Interphase Nuclear Volume (INV) were accessed on eight dessert type of Musa accessions from different places of Odisha. All the cultivars studied were found triploid (2n = 33) with a basic chromosome number of x=11. The karyotype formulae were assigned to each cultivar by grouping the chro- mosome according to their shared characteristics. The total chromosome length ranged from 54.95 µm in cv. Robusta to 81.5 µm in cv. Kathia with symmetric karyotype in all the studied cultivar. Karyotype formula revealed structural alteration of chromosome with Total Form percentage (TF%) variation from 35.65% in cv. Amritapani to 41.68% in cv. Patakpura that confirms more number of nearly median constricted chromosome as compared to sub-median chromosome. The total chromosome volume recorded from 10.78 µm3 in cv. Robusta to 15.99 µm3 in cv. Khatia and the INV varied from 1336.44 µm3 in cv. Dwarf Cavendish to 2048.37 µm3 in cv. Patakpura. The recorded structural variation might be due to differential genome specific condensation of chromosome. Chromosome length and volume found statistically significant among the cultivars. Keywords: chromosome number, genome analysis, ploidy, table-top banana, total form percentage. INTRODUCTION Banana (Musa spp.) belongs to family Musaceae is an important mono- cot plant used as staple food and cash crop for millions of people that provide 24 Shomina Dehury, Subrat Kumar Dehery, Anath Bandhu Das nutrition and minerals with high calorific value. Culti- vated banana are distinguished into dessert or simply called banana and cooking banana or plantain. Banana is cultivated primarily for its highly nutritious fruit beside it has good fiber content obtained from its pseudostem, leaves are used as disposable leaf plates and inflorescence are used for food with high potassium (50.08 mg g-1), cal- cium (3.78 mg 1-1) and phosphorus (3.66 mg g-1) content in dry weight basis (Fingolo et al. 2012). There are over a thousand domesticated Musa culti- vars with a very high genetic diversity (Stover and Sim- monds 1987; Perrier et al. 1990). However, due to dif- ficulty of genetic makeup, and sterility of the crop, the development of new varieties through hybridization, mutation or transformation was not very successful in Musa till date (Heslop-Harrisons and Swarzacher 2007). The ploidy level determination of different varieties of Musa is economically important as well as preliminary requisite to facilitate breeding programme from exist- ing genetic diversity of the country for future quantita- tive and qualitative morphological trait targeted breed- ing programme. Inter and intra specific hybridization of two wild diploid (2n = 2x = 22) Musa species, Musa acuminata (AA) containing ‘A’ genome and Musa bal- bisiana (BB) having ‘B’ genome gave rise to most of the natural banana cultivars with different genomic and ploidy levels i.e. AA, AAA, AAB, ABB, AAAB, AABB and ABBB. The cultivated banana are mostly triploid (2n = 3x = 33) with a limited varieties/species with diploid or tetraploid constituents. Various cultivars of banana have been originated from independent sources in the wild, so the hybridization events and mutations giv- ing rise to seedless and parthenocarpic characters have occurred many hundreds of times (Simmonds and Shep- herd 1955; Heslop-Harrisons and Swarzacher 2007). Where fertile plants occur together, hybridization con- tinues to produce new diversity (Pollefeys et al. 2019) and parental combinations, hence, structural analysis of chromosome is important. Simmonds (1962) considered five plant characteristics that lead to farmers for pick- ing plant vigour, yield, seedlessness, hardiness and fruit quality, the first four of which are related to polyploidy (triploidy). Karyotype analysis provides valuable infor- mation related to the mechanisms of genome evolution. Several types of banana out of thousands of cultivars are adapted to the agro-climatic condition of Odisha. Tradi- tionally the economically important cultivars grown in the state are Silk (Patkapura), Poovan (Champa), Caven- dish group. Recently, there has been a trend towards the cultivation of Amritpani due to high productivity and consumer acceptability (Maharana et al. 2017). Some of the earlier reports confirmed chromosome number with karyotypes, still data are scanty for different cultivars of banana (Cheesman and Larter 1935; Das and Das 1997). In this study, a detailed karyotype analysis and chromo- some number determination has been carried out for further structural analysis of chromosome which is the prerequisite for localization of specific marker gene of interest on to the chromosome through Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) for genome analysis in eight triploid cultivars of dessert banana cultivated in differ- ent parts of Odisha. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eight cultivars of M. acuminata namely cv. Amri- tapani, cv. Champa, cv. Chini Champa, cv. Dwarf Cav- endish, cv. Grand Naine, cv. Kathia, cv. Patkapura, cv. Robusta were collected from different parts of Odisha and maintained in green house of Department of Bot- any, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar (Table 1). Actively growing root tips were pre-treated in half saturated Para dichlorobenzene (pDB) and aesculin mixture (1:1) for 3½ h at 18oC in refrigerator and then fixed in 1:3 ace- tic acid : ethanol overnight at room temperature. Fixed roots were treated in 45% glacial acetic acid for 15 min. Chromosome staining of fixed roots were done with 2% aceto-orcein preceded by cold hydrolysis with 5N HCl at 4oC for 5 min. Chromosome squash preparation were made using 45% glacial acetic acid. Squashed slides were observed under Olympus BX-53 microscope and number of chromosomes were calculated. Digital microphoto- graphs were taken in Micro Publisher 5.0 RTV camera observed under Olympus BX-53 microscope for detail analysis of chromosomes and karyotype. Total chromosome length was estimated by add- ing the length of all chromosomes in the karyotype and total chromosome volume by applying formula πr2h, where ‘r’ is the radius and ‘h’ is the length of the chro- mosome respectively. Analysis of the chromosome type was conducted according to the classification system of Levan et al. (1964), and that of the karyotype in accord- ance with the classification standard of Stebbins (1971) modified by Das and Mallick (1993). Form percentage (F %) of individual chromosome was calculated. Interphase Nuclear Volume (INV) was calculated following the formula of sphere i.e. 4/3πr3, where r is the radius of interphase nucleus. Results were analysed from 5-6 well spread metaphasic plates each obtained from the eight Musa cultivars. In order to ascertain the signifi- cant differences of different genomic parameters among eight cultivars of banana, if any, the one-way ANOVA test (Sokal and Rohlf 1973) was carried out with Tukey’s 25Karyotype and chromosome number in desert banana of Odisha Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test among the cul- tivars (Tukey 1949). Correlation co-efficient ‘r’ of differ- ent chromosomal parameters were made following ‘t’ test to compare the significant cytological variation, if any, among the studied cultivated desert banana cultivars. RESULTS Chromosome numbers of all the eight cultivars found to be 2n = 3x = 33. The chromosome size varied from small to large. All the somatic chromosomes are classified as Type A with comparatively large chromo- somes having nearly median (NM) primary and second- ary constrictions. Type B with medium to large sized chromosomes having nearly sub-median (NSM) primary constriction and nearly sub terminal (NST) secondary constriction. Type C with medium size chromosome having nearly median primary constriction (NM) and Type D with small to medium size chromosomes having nearly sub-median (NSM) primary constriction (Fig. 1). Although all the cultivars showed 2n = 33 chromosomes, the number variation of different Types of chromosomes in the karyotype formulae were found among the geno- types showing definite differences in their chromosome structure (Figs. 2, 3, Tables 2, Supplementary Table 1). The total chromosome length ranged from 55.68 µm in cv. Chini Champa to 81.50 µm in cv. Kathia. Predomi- nance of nearly median chromosomes is a characteristic Table 1. List of the eight cultivars of dessert banana (Musa acuminata) germplasm collected from different parts of Odisha. Cultivar/Accession number 2n Genome constitution Place of collection District Latitude/Longitude Amritapani (MU-90) 33 AAA OUAT, Bhubaneswar Khurda 20.26° N, 85.81°E Champa (MU-107) 33 AAB CHES, Bhubaneswar Khurda 20.24°N, 85.78°E Chini Champa (MU-133) 33 AAB Tangi-Chaudwar Cuttack 20.55°N, 85.99°E Dwarf Cavendish (MU-53) 33 AAA RPRC, Bhubaneswar Khurda 20.27°N, 85.79°E Grand Naine (MU-60) 33 AAA Nimapada Puri 20.05°N, 86.00°E Kathia (MU-38) 33 ABB Kapilas Dhenkanal 20.69°N, 85.74°E Patakpura (MU-44) 33 AAB Chandanpur Puri 19.88oN, 85.81oE Robusta (MU-137) 33 AAA Ramagarh Cuttack 20.55°N, 85.98°E CHES = Central Horticultural Experimental Station, Bhubaneswar, RPRC Regional Plant Resource Centre, Bhubaneswar, OUAT = Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. Figure 1. Standard karyotype of desert banana (M. acuminata). Figure 2a-h. Metaphase plates of eight cultivars of desert banana of Odisha; (a) cv. Amritapani, (b) cv. Champa, (c) cv. Grand Naine, (d) cv. Patakpura, (e) cv. Dwarf Cavendish, (f ) cv. Kathia, (g) cv. Chini Champa, (h) cv. Robusta. Magnification bar = 10 µm. 26 Shomina Dehury, Subrat Kumar Dehery, Anath Bandhu Das of the eight studied cultivars in which the TF% varied from 35.65% in cv. Amritapani to 41.68% in cv. Patak- pura. The total chromosome volume was found low- est in cv. Robusta (10.78 µm3) and highest in cv. Kathia (15.99 µm3). The interphase nuclear volume ranged from 1336.44 µm3 in cv. Dwarf Cavendish to 2048.37 µm3 in cv. Patakpura. Presence of secondary constricted chro- mosomes varied among cultivars from 12 in cv. Amri- tapani to 3 in cv. Grand Naine and Robusta. Karyotype of all the cultivars showed Type A secondary constricted chromosome except cv. Patakpura while B Type second- ary constricted chromosomes were found in cv. Amrita- pani and cv. Patakpura. Other related cytological param- eters against each cultivars have been given in Table 2. Statistical analysis showed significant differences among the cultivars of banana (Table 3). The chromosome length and volume found significantly correlated with a coeffi- cient value of r = 0.99. However, chromosome length and volume have no such significant correlation with nuclear volume which were -0.287 and -0.288 respectively. Tuk- ey’s Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test confirmed that significant differences of total chromosome length and INV were recorded among the studied varieties (data not shown). The chromosome volume varied significantly among the varieties without having any significant vari- ations between cv. Chini Champa and cv. Champa, cv. Dwarf Cavendish and cv. Grand Naine, cv. Champa, cv. Chini Champa and cv. Robusta (Table supplementary 2). No significant variation of TF% was also observed between cv. Champa and cv. Chini Champa, cv. Kathia and cv. Champa or cv. Chini Champa following Trukey HSD test (Table Supplementary 2). DISCUSSION Cultivated bananas are scientifically interesting, as there is no genetic exchange during reproduction and selection is mostly depends on random mutations (Ola- dosu et al. 2016). Knowledge of chromosomal charac- ters of the edible cultivars is valuable in order to know banana genetics in details. Edible bananas have 2n = 2x 22, 33 or 44 chromosomes for diploid, triploid and tetra- ploid cultivars respectively (Stover and Simmonds 1987). These cultivars have a wide range of genome permuta- Figure 3. Comparative karyogram of different cultivars of banana of the corresponding metaphase plates. Table 2. Detail karyotype analysis of the eight banana cultivars with different chromosomal parameters. Variety Genome Somatic chromosome number (2n=3x) Karyotype formula NSC+ Total chromosome length (µm±SE) Total F% Total chromosome volume (µm3±SE) INV++ (µm3±SE) Amritapani AAA 33 9A+3B+15C+6D 12 75.60±1.23 35.65 14.83±0.13 1604.66±3.32 Champa AAB 33 6A+18C+9D 6 58.35±0.98 39.29 11.45±0.23 1526.50±5.58 Chini Champa AAB 33 9A+15C+9D 9 55.68±1.45 39.36 10.93±0.34 1352.80±2.91 Dwarf Cavendish AAA 33 9A+12C+12D 9 64.52±0.56 35.82 12.66±0.22 1336.44±2.74 Grand Naine AAA 33 3A+18C+12D 3 63.76±1.25 38.20 12.52±0.15 1401.46±4.19 Kathia AAB 33 9A+21C+3D 9 81.50±2.12 39.10 15.99±0.34 1437.33±5.16 Patakpura AAB 33 6B+24C+3D 6 69.08±1.34 41.68 13.56±0.16 2048.37±6.21 Robusta AAA 33 3A+21C+9D 3 54.95±0.67 40.18 10.78±0.09 1443.50±3.17 + NSC = Number of secondary constricted chromosome; ++INV = Interphase nuclear volume. 27Karyotype and chromosome number in desert banana of Odisha tions, including AA, AB, BB, AAA, AAB, ABB, AAAB, ABBB, and AABB. Simmond and Shepherd (1955) differ- entiated 5 genomic groups viz. AA, AB, AAA, AAB, and ABB based on the scoring of morphologically diagnostic characters relating to the two wild species M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. Within each group, related clones are associated in a subgroup. Cytological studies of Indian species, varieties and cultivars are very scanty except some recent reports (Ghosh et al. 2013; Das et al. 2020; Dehery et al. 2020) and molecular marker analysis (Ven- katachalam et al. 2008), though there are many biodiver- sity hotspots of banana in North East India exists which need to be explored. Banana varieties of Odisha have remarkable popularity in the locality and the cytogenet- ics of some of the varieties like cv. Amritpani, cv. Cham- pa, cv. Patakpura, cv. Kathia has not been extensively covered and reported before. Musa cultivars were studied and no numerical changes in the somatic chromosomes was observed in the genome that reconfirmed x = 11 (Table 2). Majority of the chromosomes in each karyotype were found to be in the group of the medium-sized chromosome with median primary constriction. All the 4 Types of chro- mosomes were present in cv. Amritapani whereas rest of cultivars has only 3 Types of chromosomes. Type C and D were common in all the cultivars with different doses whereas Type B was present in cv. Patakpura only and rest cultivars had Type A chromosomes. The dose of nearly median constricted chromosomes were found more in all the cultivars except cv. Dwarf Cavendish and cv. Grand Naine that showed 12 Type D chromosomes in the karyotype. Numbers of secondary constrict- ed chromosomes found variable among the cultivars. The total chromosome length varied from 54.95 µm in cv. Robusta to 81.50 µm in cv. Kathia and TF% varied from 35.65% in cv. Amritapani to 41.68% in cv. Patak- pura among the studied cultivars. Chromosome volume also found significantly different among the cultivars ranged from 10.78 µm3 in cv. Robusta to 15.99 µm3 in cv. Kathia that might be due to genome specific differential condensation of the heterochromatin and euchromatic region of the chromosomes during metaphase. Thus, variety specific chromosome condensation and volume variation might be an indication of genome size varia- tion which need further experimentation. Differences in chromosome length or chromosome volume may be due to differential condensation and spi- ralization of the chromosome arms. In addition, the species-specific compaction of DNA threads along with nucleosomes with altered non-histone proteins (Das and Mallick 1989). The alteration in the TF% might be due to chromosomal alteration due to break and reunion of the chromosome arms in early stages of evolution in the genome rather than the methodological defect of chro- mosome squash preparation. Furthermore, translocation mediated structural alteration played a crucial role in chromosome evolution (Lysak et al. 2006; Luiz et al. 2009) besides heteromorphicity in centromeriac position among the chromosomes of Allium localizing GC- and AT-rich repeats by CMA- and DAPI-banding patterns (Mahbub et al. 2014). The dissymmetrical coefficient of the karyotype through FISH in Hibiscus mutabilis f. mutabilis, L. con- firms relatively advanced type over plants with symmet- rical chromosomes of the primitive type with respect to evolution (Li et al. 2015). Duplication of chromosomes or translocation between the chromosomes with or without secondary constrictions at a very early stage of evolution might be the reason for the structural alteration of the chromosome morphology as well as the variation of sec- ondary constricted chromosomes in the above cultivars (Das and Das 1994; Rai et al. 1997; Ghosh et al. 2013; Das et al. 2015, 2020; Dehery et al. 2020). Cultivars with reported AAA genome like cv. Amri- tapani, cv. Dwarf Cavendish, cv. Grand Naine and cv. Robusta found to have Type A, C and D found com- mon with 12 numbers of Type D chromosomes each of cv. Dwarf Cavendish and cv. Grand Naine and 3 Type A each of cv. Grand Naine and cv. Robusta show- ing interrelationships among them having close affin- Table 3. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of different genomic parameters among the eight cultivars of M. acuminata. Source DF SS MS F Total chromosome length Between cultivars 7 42.682 6.097 62.214* Within cultivars 32 3.153 0.098 Total 39 - Total chromosome volume Between cultivars 7 32.127 4.589 57.362* Within cultivars 32 2.563 0.080 Total 39 - Total Form % (TF%) Between cultivars 7 422.256 60.322 105.458* Within cultivars 32 18.334 0.572 Total 39 - Total INV Between cultivars 7 5267.365 752.480 442.895* Within cultivars 62 105.34 1.699 Total 69 - * Significant at p ≥ 0.001 level. DF, degrees of freedom; SS, sum of squares; MS, mean squares; F, variance ratio 28 Shomina Dehury, Subrat Kumar Dehery, Anath Bandhu Das ity which need further investigation applying different DNA markers. However, cv. Amritapani had 9 Type A with 3 numbers of Type B of chromosomes with less numbers of Type D chromosomes i.e. small sized sub- median primary constriction. Less number of second- ary constricted chromosomes in cv. Grand Naine and cv. Robusta genome might be more stable with less chances of chromosomal alteration due to break and reunion of the chromosomes in karyotypes during micro-evolution. But cv. Amritapani differs from others with the pres- ence of more number of secondary constriction and the karyotype is comparatively more fragile and karyotype asymmetry analysis might through some light on karyo- type evolution in banana (Dehery et al. 2020). Cultivars recorded AAB genome types like cv. Champa, cv. Cheni Champa, cv. Patakpura and cv. Kathia with 3 types of chromosomes where Type C and D were common in all the 4 cultivars. In this genotypic group cv. Patakpura showed 6 Type of B chromosomes. In con- trary, cv. Chini Champa and cv. Kathia showed each of 9 Type A chromosomes that with less number of Type D chromosomes in cv. Kathia than cv. Chini Champa. Evi- dently, all the members of AAB group might close genet- ic relationship and decrease of median constricted Type C chromosomes and increase of Type D chromosomes in cv. Champa and cv. Chini Champa clearly indicates their close genetic affinity in this genotypic group. High TF% in all the cultivars except cv. Amritapani indicate the alteration of chromosome structure in the genome. These factors indicate greater genome stability conferring resistance to the cultivars against biotic or abiotic environmental stresses which is a characteristic feature of cultivars with B genome that need to confirm in future by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) as shown in oth- er cultivars of banana using BAC clones (D’Hont et al. 2000; Doležel et al. 2004; D’Hont 2005; Jeridi et al. 2011). Chromosomes with median, nearly median, sub- median or nearly sub-median position of centromere are prevalent in karyotypes reported in this work. Sig- nificant variations in the chromosome were not noted while analyzing the karyotypes of the eight cultivars studied as the eight triploid varieties known to have been derived from hybridization of the wild species have almost similar combinations of chromosomes with median and sub-median constrictions, with minute variations. Although a significant variation in genome length, volume and INV was recorded (Table 3). The small size of the chromosomes and the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of cells containing meta- phase chromosomes makes it tedious rather difficult for the studies of the karyotype of bananas and plantain represented by many cultivars and subgroups in nature need to be analyzed with FISH applying genome specific probes of transposable element for evolution among the cultivars. A positive high correlation was noted between chromosome length and chromosome volume (r = 0.99) that might be due to genome specific genetic control of chromosome condensation and packaging of histone protein. Evolution of karyotype in species of identical chromosome number belongs to a distinct phylogenetic group is a long-standing issue that could be addressed by comparative chromosome painting to reconstruct karyotype evolution as evident in Crucifer species of Brassicaceae (Mandáková and Lysak 2008) and Orchi- daceae (Medeiros-Neto et al. 2017). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are thankful to the Head of the Bota- ny, Utkal University for providing administrative and microscopic facilities developed under DSR-III, Univer- sity Grant Commission, and FIST programme, Govt. of India to carry out the research. ABD acknowledge the financial assistance received from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Human Resource Development Group, Sanction No. 21(1107)/20/EMR-II), Government of India, New Delhi. 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Detailed karyotype analysis of the eight dessert banana cultivars. Chromosome Types Number of chromosomes Total chromosome length (µm) Length of short arm (µm) F% Nature of constriction 1. M. acuminata cv. Amritapani A 9 26.27 8.95 34.06 Comparatively large chromo-some with NM primary and NSM secondary constrictions.7.28 27.71 B 3 7.48 2.19 29.27 NSM primary and secondary constriction. 1.62 21.65 C 15 28.22 12.30 43.58 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 6 11.67 3.81 34.64 Small size chromosomes with NSM primary constriction. 2. M. acuminata cv. Champa A 6 11.88 4.15 34.93 Comparatively large chromo-some having NM primary and NSM secondary constriction.2.80 23.56 C 18 24.77 11.02 44.48 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 9 21.70 7.24 33.36 Medium to small size chromosome with NSM Primary constrictions. 3. M. acuminata cv. Chini Champa A 9 16.71 5.69 34.04 Comparatively large chromo-some having NM primary and NSM secondary constrictions.4.60 27.52 C 15 25.67 11.55 45.0 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 9 13.3 4.48 33.7 Medium to small size chromo-Some with NSM primary constrictions. 4. M. acuminata cv. Dwarf Cavendish A 9 22.85 8.83 36.49 Comparatively large chromo-some having NM primary and NSM secondary constrictions.6.20 27.13 C 12 25.58 10.38 40.57 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 12 14.84 5.10 34.36 Medium size chromosomes with NSM primary constrictions. 5. M. acuminata cv. Grand Naine A 3 6.81 2.58 37.88 Comparatively large chromo-some having NM primary and NSM secondary constrictions respectively.1.95 27.60 C 18 33.59 14.81 44.09 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 12 23.36 7.29 31.20 Medium size chromosomes with NSM primary constrictions. 6. M. acuminata cv. Kathia A 9 24.68 8.99 36.42 Comparatively large chromo-some having NM primary and NSM secondary constrictions.7.06 28.60 C 21 45.6 19.79 43.40 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 3 11.21 3.72 33.18 Medium size chromosomes with NSM primary constrictions. 7. M. acuminata cv. Patakpura B 6 14.55 4.17 28.65 Comparatively large chromo-somes with NSM primary and secondary constriction.3.61 24.81 C 24 47.76 21.03 44.03 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 3 6.77 2.46 36.33 Medium size chromosomes with NSM primary constrictions. 8. M. acuminata cv. Robusta A 3 6.46 1.9 29.41 Comparatively large chromo-some having NSM primary and secondary constrictions.1.5 23.22 C 21 32.02 14.6 45.6 Medium size chromosomes with NM primary constriction. D 9 16.47 5.22 31.70 Medium size chromosomes with NSM primary constrictions. NM = Nearly median, NSM = Nearly sub median, NST = nearly sub terminal. 31Karyotype and chromosome number in desert banana of Odisha Supplementary Table 2. Mean difference of different cytological parameters among different varieties of M. acuminata and their sig- nificant level after Tuky’s test. Champa Chini Champa Dwarf Cavendish Grand Naine Kathia Patakpura Robusta Chromosome length Amritapani 17.25* 19.92* 11.08* 11.84* 5.9* 6.52* 20.65* Champa 2.67* 6.17* 5.41* 23.15* 10.73* 3.4* Chini Champa 8.84* 8.08* 25.82* 13.4* 0.73* Dwarf Cavendish 0.76* 16.98* 4.56* 9.57* Grand Naine 17.74* 5.32* 8.81* Kathia 12.42* 26.55* Patakpura 14.13* Chromosome volume Amritapani 3.38* 3.9* 2.17ns 2.31ns 1.16ns 1.27ns 4.05* Champa 0.52ns 1.21ns 1.07ns 4.54* 2.11ns 0.67ns Chini Champa 1.73ns 1.59ns 5.06* 2.63ns 0.15ns Dwarf Cavendish 0.14ns 3.33* 0.9ns 1.88ns Grand Naine 3.47* 1.04ns 1.74ns Kathia 2.43ns 5.21* Patakpura 2.78* Total Form Percentage (TF%) Amritapani 3.64* 3.71* 0.17* 2.55* 3.45* 6.03* 4.53* Champa 0.07ns 3.47* 1.09* 0.19ns 2.39* 0.89* Chini Champa 3.54* 1.16* 0.26ns 2.32* 0.82* Dwarf Cavendish 2.38* 3.28* 5.86* 4.36* Grand Naine 0.90* 3.48* 1.98* Kathia 2.58* 1.08* Patakpura 1.50* Interphase Nuclear Volume (INV) Amritapani 78.16* 251.86* 268.22* 203.2* 167.33* 443.71* 161.16* Champa 173.7* 190.06* 125.04* 89.17* 521.87* 83.0* Chini Champa 16.36* 48.66** 84.53* 695.57* 90.7* Dwarf Cavendish 65.02* 100.89* 711.93* 107.06* Grand Naine 35.87* 646.91* 42.04* Kathia 611.04 6.17* Patakpura 604.87* * Significant at p ≥ 0.001 level.