Abstract
The olive fruit, a symbol of Mediterranean diets, is a rich source of antioxidants and oleic acid (55–83%). Olive genetic resources, including cultivated olives (cultivars), wild olives as well as related subspecies, are distributed widely across the Mediterranean region and other countries. Certain cultivars have a high commercial demand and economical value due to the differentiating organoleptic characteristics. This might result in economically motivated fraudulent practices and adulteration. Hence, tools to ensure the authenticity of constituent olive cultivars are crucial, and this can be achieved accurately through DNA-based methods. The present review outlines the applications of microsatellite markers, one of the most extensively used types of molecular markers in olive species, particularly referring to the use of these DNA-based markers in cataloging the vast olive germplasm, leading to identification and authentication of the cultivars. Emphasis has been given on the need to adopt a uniform platform where global molecular information pertaining to the details of available markers, cultivar-specific genotyping profiles (their synonyms or homonyms) and the comparative profiles of oil and reference leaf samples is accessible to researchers. The challenges of working with microsatellite markers and efforts underway, mainly advancements in genotyping methods which can be effectively incorporated in olive oil varietal testing, are also provided. Such efforts will pave the way for the development of more robust microsatellite marker-based olive agri-food authentication platforms.
Highlights
The olive tree has been cultivated for approximately 6000 years in Mediterranean countries, where 95% of olive germplasm is located
Microsatellites, being so extensively applied in olive germplasm cataloging, authentication and traceability studies, need to be reviewed in detail, and the present review aims to elaborate on the development of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in olives and targets their use in olive cultivar identification, cataloging of germplasm and the traceability of oils and table olives
A vast amount of genetic information about olive populations, wild relatives, local cultivars and germplasm banks around the world is available to researchers, which can be utilized for developing cultivar breeding programs and better management of global olive genetic resources
Summary
The olive tree has been cultivated for approximately 6000 years in Mediterranean countries, where 95% of olive germplasm is located. Microsatellite markers have been used in various applications such as cultivar identification, characterization of autochthonous olives (ancient olive trees and oleasters), the management of olive germplasm banks, phylogenetics, diversity analysis and mapping These have been widely utilized in the authentication and traceability of cultivars in olive agri-food products. Microsatellites, being so extensively applied in olive germplasm cataloging, authentication and traceability studies, need to be reviewed in detail, and the present review aims to elaborate on the development of SSRs in olives and targets their use in olive cultivar identification, cataloging of germplasm and the traceability of oils and table olives Information generated through such studies has been thoroughly compiled and presented in this review through extensive literature searching, mainly using Google (www.google.com accessed on 26 July 2021) and Google Scholar (scholar.google.com, accessed on 26 July 2021). Key factors that affect the applicability and usefulness of microsatellites in olive varietal identification are emphasized and discussed in the manuscript
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