1. An overview of genetic improvement in bananas over the last century: Mike Smith, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Australia; and Michael Pillay, Vaal University of Technology, South Africa;
Part 1 Classification
2. Cytogenetics of structural rearrangements in Musa hybrids and cultivars: Fajarudin Ahmad, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Indonesia and Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; Peter M. Bourke and Henk Schouten, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; Hugo Volkaert, Center for Agricultural Biotechnology - Kasetsart University, Thailand; Gert H. J. Kema, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; and Hans de Jong, Kasetsart University, Thailand and Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;
3. Identifying and classifying banana cultivars: Jeff Daniells, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Australia; and Steven B. Janssens, Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium;
4. Exploiting current Musa collections: V. Guignon, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, France;
Part 2 Broadening the genetic base
5. Scope of collecting wild Musa species germplasm: Julie Sardos, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Montpellier Office, France;
6. Collection and evaluation of wild Musa species: Hugo A. Volkaert, Center for Agricultural Biotechnology - Kasetsart University, Thailand;
7. Collection and evaluation of banana and plantain landraces in Africa: D. Karamura and W. Ocimati, Bioversity International, Uganda; G. Blomme, Bioversity International, Ethiopia; J. G. Adheka, University of Kisangani (UNIKIS), Democratic Republic of the Congo; C. Sivirihauma, Université Catholique du Graben (UCG), Democratic Republic of the Congo; D. B. Dhed’a, University of Kisangani (UNIKIS), Democratic Republic of the Congo; and E. Karamura, Bioversity International, Uganda;
8. Seed germination, preservation and population genetics of wild Musa germplasm: Bart Panis, Bioversity International and Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium; Simon Kallow, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, UK and Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium; and Steven B. Janssens, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium;
9. Safe dissemination of germplasm resources of banana: John Thomas, The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Ecosciences Precinct, Australia; Sébastien Massart, Integrated and Urban Plant Pathology Laboratory, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Belgium; Ines Van den Houwe, Bioversity International Transit Centre, KU Leuven, Division of Crop Biotechnics - Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Belgium; Nicolas Roux, Bioversity International, France; and Kathy Crew, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ecosciences Precinct, Australia;
Part 3 Genetic improvement through breeding
10. Making banana breeding more effective: F. Bakry, J. P. Horry and C. Jenny, CIRAD, UMR AGAP and AGAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, France;
11. Overcoming the fertility crisis in bananas (Musa spp.): Delphine Amah, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria; David W. Turner, The University of Western Australia, Australia; D. Jane Gibbs, Consultant, Australia; Allan Waniale, Makerere University and National Agricultural Research Laboratories, Uganda; Gil Gram, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Uganda and Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium; and Rony Swennen, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania and Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium;
12. Targeted improvement of Cavendish clones: Eli Khayat, Rahan Meristem (1998) LTD., Israel;
13. Developing hybrid banana varieties with improved properties: Edson Perito Amorim, Vanusia Batista de Oliveira Amorim, Manassés dos Santos Silva, Fernando Haddad, Claudia Fortes Ferreira and Janay Almeida dos Santos Serejo, Embrapa, Brazil;
14. Genetic modification of bananas: the long road to farmers’ fields: James Dale, Queensland University of Technology, Australia; Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda; and Robert Harding, Queensland University of Technology, Australia;
15. The usage of phenotyping, genetics and functional genomics approaches to improve environmental stress factors in banana: Sebastien Christian Carpentier, Bioversity International and Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium; and David Eyland, Katholieke University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium
