Olive Tree (Olea europaea L.) Diversity in Traditional Small Farms of Ficalho, Portugal

Abstract

The genetic diversity of "Gama" and "Bico de Corvo", local cultivars of olive tree (Olea europaea) from seven traditional orchards of Ficalho (Alentejo region, Portugal), was studied to characterize the local diversity and assess the level of on farm diversity. Two different analytical systems were used: endocarp morphological characteristics and genetic analysis by microsatellite markers (Simple Sequence Repeats or SSR). The seven screened loci were polymorphic and allowed the identification of 23 distinct SSR profiles within the 27 trees analyzed. A total of 52 different alleles were scored, with an average of 7.43 alleles/SSR locus, and considerable genetic diversity was found. Neighbor-Joining algorithm cluster analysis and principal co-ordinate analysis (PCoA) allowed for the identification of the genetic relationships between several accessions. The 27 Olea accessions were clearly separated into three different groups. SSR analysis was more precise than endocarp characterization in the classification of genetic diversity among the olive tree cultivars. The study shows reasonable olive tree diversity in Ficalho, indicating that these traditional orchards are important reservoirs of old minor cultivars and incubators of new genotypes.

Recovery, Assessment, and Molecular Characterization of Minor Olive Genotypes in Tunisia

“…The aim of the project was to efficiently recover new germplasm in the territory, and to genetically characterize it. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were chosen, as they are still considered highly reliable in the identification of varieties of different crops [19][20][21][22], including olive [23][24][25][26], population genetics [4][5][6], and product traceability [27][28][29][30].…”

Applications of Microsatellite Markers for the Characterization of Olive Genetic Resources of Tunisia

“…SSR markers were used to establish core collections from the world Olive Germplasm Bank of Marrakech, that encompasses the whole Mediterranean genetic diversity, holding 561 accessions from 14 Mediterranean countries [ 52 ], as well as from the Worldwide Olive Germplasm Bank of Izmir (Turkey) which holds 500 accessions from 17 countries [ 53 ]. Many others olive minor collections were implemented and characterized by SSR markers in several countries, such as Greece [ 54 ], France [ 55 , 56 , 57 ], Algeria [ 58 ], United States [ 59 ], Italy [ 60 , 61 , 62 ], Portugal [ 63 , 64 ] and Albania [ 65 ].…”

Genetic Characterization of Apulian Olive Germplasm as Potential Source in New Breeding Programs

“…Molecular markers are widely used in crop species, including olives, to dissect genetic diversity, characterize cultivars and identify synonymies and homonymies [26,27,28,29,30]. The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragmentlLength polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to dissect genetic relationships among wild forms and cultivars retrieved in several Mediterranean countries [31,32], including Italy [33,34].…”