NEW YORK, July 19 – Researchers from around the world will gather at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday for a two-day conference to discuss a proposal to sequence the banana genome, the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain said.
The researchers are interested in finding ways to make bananas resistant to the Black Sigatoka fungus, a leading killer of banana crops.
At the meeting researchers will discuss funding for the project as well as ways to divide up the banana genome for sequencing. Scientists from Australia, Europe, North and South America, India, and Africa are expected to attend the meeting.
The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain is a program of the Rome-based International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.