QCAV‐4, the first genetically modified Cavendish (cv. Grand Nain) banana resistant to Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 approved for commercial production and consumption

Summary Bananas ( Musa spp.) are a major fruit crop worldwide, with the Cavendish cultivar dominating the export industries, which are based primarily in the Americas and the Philippines. The sustainability of banana production in these, and other regions, is under threat from the fungal disease Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4) which kills Cavendish and many other banana cultivars. No effective TR4 control strategies exist, and no consumer‐acceptable TR4‐resistant Cavendish replacements are currently available. Previously, we identified four genetically modified (GM) TR4‐resistant Cavendish (cv. Grand Nain) banana lines (RGA2‐2, ‐3, ‐4, and ‐5), each transformed with the MamRGA2 resistance gene derived from a TR4‐resistant wild banana. Here, we provide a comprehensive agronomic evaluation of these lines and report the regulatory approval of the top‐performing line, RGA2‐4 (QCAV‐4), in Australia. After five crop cycles of field trialling, TR4 disease incidence reached 66% and 84% in the Grand Nain and Williams non‐GM controls, respectively, while GM lines showed a significantly reduced incidence ranging from 2% (QCAV‐4) to 36% (RGA2‐5). Agronomic comparisons between QCAV‐4 and non‐GM Grand Nain controls for bunch weight, yield and cycle time indicated that, for most crop cycles, there were no differences, showing that, apart from TR4 resistance, QCAV‐4 is agronomically and phenotypically comparable to conventional Grand Nain. Molecular characterization of QCAV‐4 confirmed a single, large T‐DNA insert containing multiple copies of the MamRGA2 gene on chromosome 6 of the QCAV‐4 genome. QCAV‐4 is the first GM banana approved for commercial cultivation and consumption.