Résumé
The presence of infectious endogenous Banana streak virus alleles (eBSV) in the genome of Musa balbisiana progenitors hampers breeding efforts aimed at the development of much needed banana interspecific hybrids. We report on the characterization of eBSVs in M. balbisiana progenitors and on the development and implementation of strategies for relieving several of these M. balbisiana progenitors from infectious eBSV alleles. Our results pave the way to improved strategies for breeding banana interspecific hybrids with no risk of activation of infectious eBSV alleles. Key words: breeding; interspecific hybrids; endogenous Banana streak virus; infectious allele; segregation. (Résumé d'auteur)