Abstract
Oleaster (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea var. sylvestris) is the ancestor of cultivated olive (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea var. europaea) and it is spread through the whole Mediterranean Basin, showing an overlapping distribution with cultivated olive trees. Climate change and new emerging diseases are expected to severely affect the cultivations of olive in the future. Oleaster presents a higher genetic variability compared to the cultivated olive and some wild trees were found adapted to particularly harsh conditions; therefore, the role of oleaster in the future of olive cultivation may be crucial. Despite the great potential, only recently the need to deeply characterize and adequately preserve the wild olive resources drew the attention of researchers. In this review, we summarized the most important morphological and genetic studies performed on oleaster trees collected in different countries of the Mediterranean Basin. Moreover, we reviewed the strategies introduced so far to preserve and manage the oleaster germplasm collections, giving a future perspective on their role in facing the future agricultural challenges posed by climatic changes and new emerging diseases.
Highlights
Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the most iconic trees of Mediterranean Basin, with important implications from a social, economic, and ecological point of view [1]
Feral olive forms were placed in intermediate position based on the morphological traits of tree, leaf, fruit, and stone. They are not morphologically distinguishable, some studies based on genetic analysis allowed the distinction between feral germplasm and genuine wild olives evidencing the persistence of genuine oleaster populations in several countries of the Mediterranean area [11–14]
Morphological evaluation is the basis for olive characterization, but its dependence on plant development stages, the subjectivity of analysis, and the influence of environmental factors on its assessment have led to the progressive use of morphological descriptors in combination with molecular marker-based methods, which are fundamental in the genetic diversity assessment of large populations [58]
Summary
Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the most iconic trees of Mediterranean Basin, with important implications from a social, economic, and ecological point of view [1]. Feral olive forms were placed in intermediate position based on the morphological traits of tree, leaf, fruit, and stone They are not morphologically distinguishable, some studies based on genetic analysis allowed the distinction between feral germplasm and genuine wild olives evidencing the persistence of genuine oleaster populations in several countries of the Mediterranean area [11–14]. The realization of studies involving a wide number of diverse olive trees aiming to identify sources of resistance is in progress In this scenario, the availability of wild olive germplasm resources suitable for breeding programs and the preservation of this great source of genetic diversity is crucially important. We focused on the strategies introduced so far to preserve and manage the oleaster collections, giving a future perspective on how the wild olive genetic resources would be important to face the future agricultural challenges posed by climatic changes and new emerging diseases
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