Bananas have no seeds, how do they multiply? Will bananas be completely extinct in 2050?
Bananas are a ubiquitous fruit in our lives, because of their high yield, easy to grow, low price and other characteristics, it has become the world's top consumption of fruits.
In some parts of Africa, it is used as a ration, feeding a large number of people.
However, have you ever wondered the question, bananas have no seeds, how do they reproduce? Obviously widely cultivated all over the world, why is it rumored to be an endangered plant?
This claim on the market originated in a climate report that declared: "Bananas will completely disappear in 2050 for reasons of global warming." ”
What's going on? Is it true that as the report said, as a small partner who likes to eat bananas, of course, I can't accept this fact.
For this reason, Brother Qiang has made some special efforts to understand, and I will discuss this issue with you below.
The past and present lives of bananas
Now the bananas eaten all over the world are made from a plant, is anyone surprised?
This has to start from the history of banana cultivation, bananas have existed on the earth for a long time, and at first wild bananas did not grow into what they are now, they are seeded.
Because this banana is full of seeds, the seeds are very hard, so it is inconvenient to eat, but also very unpalatable. At this time, people are wondering whether they can improve this variety so that it can be better eaten without seeds or fewer seeds.
Through a lot of human practice, finally at the beginning of the last century, people successfully bred the big mac banana through hybrid breeding (the big mac banana is a widely cultivated variety before huajiao, and now it is almost extinct).
Big Mack banana bananas are seedless and soft, and they were quickly promoted around the world and quickly planted all over the world.
However, the big Mac banana, because it has no seeds, that is, no seeds, has properly become a triploid plant. In the planting process, the seedlings are cultivated in a split manner, which is what we often call asexual reproduction.
It is because of this cultivation method that all the banana trees in the world, as if they were cloned, have become their descendants.
Although this method reproduces quickly, it has a fatal drawback. That is, when a tree is infected with a virus, it will be irreversible, and all bananas will be infected, which will bring devastating blows to the species, and triploid plants have this property.
Of course, this kind of thing also happened, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, there was a banana fungus infection with yellow leaf disease, resulting in banana tree roots rotting, leaves turning yellow and wilting, and dying. In the end, bananas died in large areas, and farmers gave up planting.
In just a few decades, the Big Mac banana is almost extinct, and only a small amount is still cultivated in Thailand.
In the face of this situation, in order to prevent bananas from becoming extinct, scientists have bred and improved the banana varieties that were once only ornamental, which is the banana variety we eat all over the world.
Bananas have spread all over the world after asexual reproduction, so strictly speaking, the bananas we eat now are also a variety of trees.
However, the taste of the plantain is quite different from the previous big mac banana, and there is no soft flavor of the big mac banana, which is why some people think it is more delicious after eating the big mac banana in Thailand.
The fate of Hua Shuo is not optimistic
We all know that plants are diploid in their natural state, and in layman's terms, they are propagated by seeds. However, in order to pursue a better taste of the fruit, humans usually cross it to produce triploid or tetraploid.
This kind of cultivation method is also more common, such as seedless watermelon, seedless lychee, seedless grapes, etc. are all based on this principle, but the drawbacks of artificial reproduction are also obvious.
Because triploids are asexual reproduction, they cannot fight viruses through seeds like seed plants, so their disease resistance is poor, and once infected with viruses, they are often destroyed.
Triploids are also more susceptible to viral infection, such as through soil, birds or human shoes. The banana is also a triple fruit, its risk of infection is also extremely high, and its fate is not optimistic.
As early as the end of the last century, a virus called TR4 spread in the Plantain, which lasted until 2014, when it seriously caused a reduction in the production of the Plantain. Fortunately, it was a small-scale spread, and the plantain was not destroyed.
But no one knows, the next time there will be some virus to attack The Chinese Banana, will the Chinese Banana be able to fight it? Scientists have also made a lot of efforts to this end, such as through genetic science, to improve the antiviral ability of the plantain, or to develop new varieties to replace the plantain.
The specific substantive progress has not been announced, at least so far, the world is still widely cultivated chinese banana.
Conclusion: Of course we don't have to worry about bananas really going extinct, I think there are more experts who are trying to solve the problem of reproduction. What we can do may be to protect the environment, maintain the diversity of organisms, and do our best to support.
Will bananas die out completely? Say what you think, welcome to leave a message!