INTRODUCTION Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.L.

) are members of monocotyledonous family gaint perennial herbs whose pseudostems are constituted of large leaf bases and which grow throughout the humid tropics and subtropics. Banana is one of the most important fruits in the world, both as a stable food as well as a major export commodity for many tropical and subtropical countries. Banana is a nutritious gold mine. CLASSIFICATION The large crop diversity present in the family Musaceae. Two species namely Musa acuminate and Musa balbisiana are assumed to be the progenitors for most of the commercially cultivated banana and plantains. Genetic introgression between these two species has led to the wide spectrum Musa diversity with various ploidy levels (2x, 3x, and 4x) and genomic constituents (AA, BB, AB, AAB, ABB, ABBB etc). ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION Banana and plantains have originated from South East and South Asia including Pacific Islands. Musa acuminate has originated in South East Asia while Musa balbisiana find its origin in South Asia, especially India. India is the leading banana producer in Asia. The north east of India is one of the centres of origin of banana and hence a wide range of diversity exists (Uma et al. 2oo5). CONSTRAINT IN IMPROVEMENT OF BANANA IMPORTANCE OF PLANT GROWTH HORMONE IN TISSUE CULUTRE MEDIA: Media used in plant tissue culture are composed of several components like salts, vitamins, amino acids, growth regulators, sugars, gelling agent and water. All these compounds fulfill one or more function in the in vitro growth of plants. Tissue culture facilitates application of hormones which has been found to influence cell elongation, cell division, induction of primary vascular tissue, adventitious root formation, senescence, fruit growth, out growth of auxiliary buds and sex expression. Two classes of plant hormones are of major importance in tissue culture they are auxins and Cytokinins. Other hormones have been used occasionally are gibberellins, ethylene, abscisic acid and polyamines (or) jasmonates. The role of auxins in tissue culture was established by Skoog and Miller in 1957. Auxins are only required during the initial phases of adventitious root formation and somatic embryogenesis. Auxin is also required for callus formation and it has been suggested that it triggers a specific step in the cell cycle. Various naturally occurring auxins are IAA, IBA, 4-CL-IAA, PAA. In addition, many chemical analogues have been synthesized and some of them are regularly used are NAA, 2, 4 D, 2, 4, 5 T, dicamba, 4- CPA.

Cytokinins are the most complex class of plant hormones. In micro propagation, Cytokinins are used to promote auxillary branching, promote cell division, they likely influence another step in the cell cycle than auxins, obtain callus growth, promotion of adventitious shoot formation, prevention of senescence, reversion of the deteriorating effect of auxins on shoots and occasionally inhibition of excessive root formation. The naturally accruing Cytokinins are Z, iP, DHZ, ZR, iPA, DHZR etc. In addition to these Cytokinins are of synthetic chemical type namely CPPPU and TDZ etc. TDZ (N-phenyl-N-1, 2, 3-thidiazol-5-ylurea) is a substituted phenylurea compound. TDZ is an active cytokinin that was shown to induce increased shoot proliferation. This therefore makes use of TDZ cost effective in banana micro propagation. TDZ exhibits the unique property of mimicking both auxin and cytokinin effects on growth and differentiation of cultured explants, although structurally it is different from either auxins or purine-based Cytokinins. A number of physiological and biochemical events in cells are likely to be influenced by TDZ. TDZ may act through modulation of the endogenous plant growth regulators, either directly or as a result of induced stress. The other possibilities include the modification in cell membranes, energy levels, nutrient uptake, or nutrient assimilation. Thus TDZ has recently emerged as a highly affective bioregulant in tissue cultures of a diverse array of species ranging from herbaceous to tree crops.