This investment is identifying new genetic material associated with resistance to the banana disease, Panama Tropical Race 4 or fusarium wilt, with the aim of developing a range of molecular markers. These will be used to screen germplasm in international breeding programs to identify lines and varieties with enhanced resistance to Panama TR4, for ultimate use by Australian banana growers.

Molecular marker-assisted selection is used in breeding programs to allow genotypic selection at early generations, and in a banana breeding program, will improve screening efficiency and reduce the space and time usually needed for widescale pathogen screening.