Monumental olive trees of Cyprus contributed to the establishment of the contemporary olive germplasm.

Katerina Anestiadou,Nikolaos Nikoloudakis,Andreas Katsiotis,Marianna Hagidimitriou

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187697

Katerina Anestiadou, Nikolaos Nikoloudakis + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187697

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Abstract

Even though Cyprus was an important crossing point for the westward spread of olive, and one of the primary regions of domestication, its genetic recourses remain uncharted at a great extent. Throughout the centuries, a number of ancient olive trees remain in the same orchards, contributing to Cypriot oleiculture and society. In an attempt to explore this monumental genetic pool, a survey was conducted to identify centennial olive trees in rural provinces of Cyprus. Microsatellites were employed in order to study their genetic composition (including rootstocks when feasible) and to establish possible associations among genotypes. High numbers of specific alleles, suggestive of the distinctiveness of this germplasm, were detected, and both grafting and rootstock propagation was verified. Moreover, it was determined by Bayesian structural and network reticulate analysis that centennial olives can be divided in two discrete genetic clusters having intermediate admixed accessions. Furthermore, it was determined that all contemporary Cypriot cultivars, that were included in the present study, were highly affiliated exclusively to one genetic group, a strong evidence of selection among elite clones. The information acquired from the current study reveals the genetic rareness of this material and its contribution to the current olive germplasm.

Highlights

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is the most symbolic species in the Mediterranean Basin due to its ecological, economical and cultural importance [1]
27 specific alleles were detected among the centennial olives (Table 3); four were observed in the centennial olive scions, five in the rootstocks, two in the Cypriot cultivars and 16 in Greek germplasm
Out of 43 different genotypes identified, only a few centennial trees had an identical genetic profile to contemporary cultivars, while the rest were different (Fig 3). This is in accordance to Baldoni et al [26], Erre et al [27], Diez et al [11], and Chalak et al [13] that have reported a low embodiment percentage of the ancient olive germplasm to contemporary local cultivars

Summary

Introduction

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is the most symbolic species in the Mediterranean Basin due to its ecological, economical and cultural importance [1]. Its contribution to agriculture is recognised since antiquity and no other plant has enjoyed more acknowledgment. Even though the utilization of (mainly) feral olive trees has been reported across the Mediterranean Basin since the Neolithic era [2], it is widely accepted that the domestication of the olive tree began in the Levant approximately 6000 years ago [3] and spread westwards through commercial shipping and land migration across the Mediterranean Basin [4,5]. The olive germplasm constitutes a composite of weedy types Link) and domesticated forms classified as O. europaea var.

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