中文导读

香蕉是全世界最受欢迎的水果之一，每年产量约1.39亿吨，水果消费量仅次于番茄。但超市里最常见的卡文迪什香蕉有个致命弱点：它有三套染色体，几乎不结种子，新植株都由老植株的吸芽繁殖而来，彼此几乎是“复制品”，一种病就可能让所有植株一起遭殃。历史上的主流品种大麦克（Gros Michel）就在20世纪50年代起被巴拿马病大面积摧毁；如今这种病的一个菌株——热带4号小种（TR4）已从东南亚蔓延到澳大利亚、非洲、中东和拉丁美洲，2025年12月又在全球最大的香蕉出口国厄瓜多尔出现。本月，金吉达与 KeyGene 合作的 Yelloway 宣布培育出完全可育的卡文迪什品系“Yellowdish”，称其保留全部卡文迪什基因、未使用转基因技术，并已与抗病香蕉杂交出幼苗。澳大利亚团队的转基因香蕉、英国学者的基因编辑研究则走了另外的路。专家提醒，其培育方法尚未公开，杂交后代也会不同于卡文迪什，还必须高产、好吃。文章按“现象—原因—应对—局限”展开，阅读时可留意 yet、but、instead of 等词如何表达转折与对比。

正文

Bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the world. Farmers grow about 139 million tonnes of them every year, and among fruits only the tomato is eaten more. Yet the banana in most fruit bowls, the Cavendish, has a serious weakness. This month, a research partnership said it may have found a way around it.

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香蕉是世界上最受欢迎的水果之一。农民每年种植约1.39亿吨香蕉，在水果中只有番茄的食用量比它更大。然而，大多数果盘里的香蕉——卡文迪什香蕉——有一个严重的弱点。本月，一个研究合作项目表示，它也许找到了绕过这个弱点的办法。

The weakness comes from the way the Cavendish is grown. It has three sets of chromosomes instead of two, so it almost never produces seeds. New plants are grown from shoots of older ones, which makes them nearly identical copies. Shoppers get fruit that looks and tastes the same everywhere, but one disease can also attack every plant in the same way.

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这个弱点来自卡文迪什香蕉的种植方式。它有三套染色体，而不是两套，所以几乎从不结种子。新植株由较老植株的吸芽长成，因此彼此几乎是一模一样的复制品。购物者在任何地方买到的香蕉外观和味道都一样，但一种病害也能以同样的方式侵袭每一株植物。

That has happened before. The Gros Michel, once the main banana in shops, was largely lost to Panama disease from the 1950s, and the Cavendish took its place. Now a strain of the same disease, called Tropical Race 4 (TR4), has spread from Southeast Asia to Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Jose De Vega, a UK crop expert, told the Guardian that the most worrying report came in December 2025 from Ecuador, the world’s largest banana exporter.

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这种事以前就发生过。大麦克香蕉曾是商店里的主要香蕉品种，从20世纪50年代起因巴拿马病而大量损失，卡文迪什香蕉取代了它的位置。如今，同一种病的一个菌株——热带4号小种（TR4）——已从东南亚蔓延到澳大利亚、非洲、中东和拉丁美洲。英国作物专家何塞·德维加对《卫报》说，最令人担忧的报告出现在2025年12月，来自全球最大的香蕉出口国厄瓜多尔。

On October 9, Yelloway, a partnership between Chiquita, the world’s largest banana company, and the plant-breeding company KeyGene, announced a fully fertile Cavendish line called Yellowdish. Its head of breeding said that in the past, breeders made thousands of crosses by hand in the hope of getting one or two seeds. The company says the new plants keep 100 percent Cavendish genes and were made without genetic modification. They have already been crossed with disease-resistant bananas, and the young plants are now growing.

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10月9日，全球最大的香蕉公司金吉达与植物育种公司 KeyGene 的合作项目 Yelloway 宣布，培育出一个完全可育的卡文迪什品系，名为 Yellowdish。该项目的育种负责人说，过去育种人员要用手工进行数千次杂交，只希望得到一两颗种子。该公司表示，新植株保留了百分之百的卡文迪什基因，而且培育过程没有使用转基因技术。它们已经与抗病香蕉进行了杂交，幼苗目前正在生长。

Other teams have chosen different paths. In Australia, researchers led by James Dale added a gene from a wild banana that resists TR4, and their modified Cavendish has been approved as food there and in New Zealand. De Vega’s team is testing gene editing to change the Cavendish’s own genes. But Peter Stedman of Chiquita argued that such methods only keep one crop alive instead of adding variety, and a single crop is easier for disease to destroy.

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其他团队选择了不同的路径。在澳大利亚，詹姆斯·戴尔领导的研究人员加入了一种能抵抗 TR4 的野生香蕉基因，他们改造的卡文迪什香蕉已在澳大利亚和新西兰获批作为食品。德维加的团队正在测试用基因编辑来改变卡文迪什香蕉自身的基因。但金吉达的彼得·斯特德曼认为，这些方法只是让单一作物继续存活，而没有增加品种多样性，而单一作物更容易被病害摧毁。

Dale and De Vega noted that Yelloway has not explained exactly how Yellowdish was produced. Dale also warned that any fruit from these crosses will be different from the Cavendish. It must give high yields and taste good, not just fight disease. Yelloway hopes to offer at least one new variety to partners by 2030.

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戴尔和德维加指出，Yelloway 尚未说明 Yellowdish 究竟是如何培育出来的。戴尔还提醒，这些杂交得到的任何果实都会与卡文迪什香蕉不同。它必须产量高、味道好，而不只是能抵抗病害。Yelloway 希望在2030年前向合作伙伴提供至少一个新品种。

新闻来源

• The Guardian · Have scientists finally found a way to save the banana from disaster? (22 Oct 2026)
• Chiquita via PR Newswire · Yellowdish, The Fertile Cavendish Breeding Line (9 Oct 2026)

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