Understanding trait preferences of different actors in the banana value chain may facilitate the selection and adoption of new cultivars. We systematically reviewed the scholarly and gray literature on banana trait preferences, with specific attention to studies that document gender-differentiated traits. Of 44 publications reviewed, only four reported gender-specific trait preferences, indicating a significant gap in the literature. The review found that banana farmers, irrespective of gender, value similar characteristics that are related to production constraints, income enhancement, consumption, and cultural or ritual uses. Farmers (as producers, processors, and consumers) often prefer traditional cultivars because of their superior consumption attributes, even if new cultivars have better agronomic and host plant resistance characteristics. Potential differences between trait preferences of farmers and other actors in the value chain should be accounted for to enhance marketing potential. Gender-specific research along the banana value chain and engaging users at the initial stages of breeding can ensure that new cultivars are acceptable to users and may improve adoption. Interdisciplinary teamwork is essential for an efficient and effective breeding program.

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The results show the utility of these novel polymorphic microsatellite markers for further conservation genetic analyses. The strong deficit of heterozygosity across all loci in the local sample suggests the species may be inbreeding.

Banana is an important crop for food and income in Burundi. However, average annual yields are low (5 t/ha) because of low and declining soil fertility, and pest and disease pressure. To help overcome the challenges to banana production in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, the Consortium for the Improvement of Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA) has been promoting and facilitating access to new high-yielding, pest- and disease-resistant improved hybrid banana cultivars with good consumer acceptability. The agronomic performance of the improved hybrid 'FHIA-17' and six commonly grown dessert banana cultivars was evaluated at six sites with contrasting altitudes across Burundi from 2008 to 2012. The data were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. 'FHIA-17' significantly outperformed the other cultivars as it had the heaviest bunch weight, was in the group of cultivars with the most hands and fruits, and the fruits were long and thick. The cultivars 'ITC0680', 'Gros Michel', 'Prata' and 'Yangambi Km5' had the next best agronomic performance, while the cultivars 'Ikigurube' and 'Kamaramasenge' had the poorest performance. The high agronomic performance of 'FHIA-17' shown in this research demonstrates how its increased cultivation may help to ensure the continued production of dessert types of bananas in Burundi and the food and income security of the population.

Melampyrum sylvaticum is an endangered annual hemiparasitic plant that is found in only 19 small and isolated populations in the United Kingdom (UK). To evaluate the genetic consequences of this patchy distribution we compared levels of diversity, inbreeding and differentiation from ten populations from the UK with eight relatively large populations from Sweden and Norway where the species is more continuously distributed. We demonstrate that in both the UK and Scandinavia, the species is highly inbreeding (global F IS = 0.899). Levels of population differentiation were high (F' ST = 0.892) and significantly higher amongst UK populations (F' ST = 0.949) than Scandinavian populations (F' ST = 0.762; P \ 0.01). The isolated populations in the UK have, on average, lower genetic diversity (allelic richness, proportion of loci that are polymorphic, gene diversity) than Scandinavian populations, and this diversity difference is associated with the smaller census size and population area of UK populations. From a conservation perspective, the naturally inbreeding nature of the species may buffer the species against immediate effects of inbreeding depression, but the markedly lower levels of genetic diversity in UK populations may represent a genetic constraint to evolutionary change. In addition, the high levels of population differentiation suggest that gene flow among populations will not be effective at replenishing lost variation. We thus recommend supporting in situ conservation management with ex situ populations and human-mediated seed dispersal among selected populations in the UK.