Self-incompatibility of `Arbequina' and `Picual' Olive Assessed by SSR Markers

Abstract

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Olea europaea, paternity, parentage exclusion, microsatellites, outcrossing rate ABSTRACT. We studied the self-incompatibility of two main Spanish olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars, 'Picual' and 'Arbequina', by testing the selfi ng of the seeds with microsatellites. For this purpose, we used a rapid single-seed DNA extraction method and four highly polymorphic microsatellites. We analyzed seeds produced in branches bagged for selfi ng from mono-and multi-cultivar orchards in 2002 and 2003. We did not fi nd any seed coming from selfi ng in the bagged branches, for either cultivar, in the two types of orchards. Additionally, we tested seeds coming from free pollination in mono-cultivar orchards from different locations. In the case of 'Picual' olive, only three seeds out of the 70 collected were the product of selfi ng, although they came from mono-cultivar orchards located in areas where the cultivar used as the female parent was predominant. From the 20 seeds of 'Arbequina' olive harvested in the middle of two high-density plantations, not one was a product of selfi ng. According to this, olive would behave as an allogamous species in mono-cultivar growing conditions and the pollen coming from long distances would be able to produce a normal bearing. Therefore, there is strong evidence to support the idea that the cultivars studied could be self-incompatible. Future experiments in self-compatibility should include a paternity check of the possible self seeds obtained.

Paternity tests support a diallelic self‐incompatibility system in a wild olive (Olea europaea subsp. laperrinei, Oleaceae)

“…Self-incompatibility system is traditionally assessed in olive using stigma tests or by recording fruit sets in controlled crosses (Farinelli et al, 2018;Saumitou-Laprade, Vernet, Vekemans, Castric, et al, 2017). Here, we determined cross-compatibilities with paternity tests among synchronously flowering wild olives in open-pollinated conditions, confirming the great potential of this alternative approach for investigating the self-incompatibility genetic determinism (e.g., Arbeiter, Jakse, & Bandelj, 2014;Díaz, Martín, Rallo, Barranco, & de la Rosa, 2006;Montemurro, Dambruoso, Bottalico, & Sabetta, 2019;Mookerjee et al, 2005;Seifi, Guerin, Kaiser, & Sedgley, 2012).…”

Reply to Saumitou‐Laprade et al. (2017) “Controlling for genetic identity of varieties, pollen contamination and stigma receptivity is essential to characterize the self‐incompatibility system of Olea europaea L.”. Eva:https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12498

“…In order to improve the accuracy of the bagging technique, it is important to bag the branches before the anthesis of all the cultivars in the field, and this was normally done when using this methodology (Farinelli et al., ). This minimizes the amount of pollen in the air, and thus the risk of contamination at the time of bagging (Cuevas & Polito, ; Diaz, Martin, Rallo, Barranco, & De la Rosa, ).…”

Early selection for oil quality components in olive breeding progenies

“…This is mainly due to the heterozygous nature of olive cultivars . Genetic variability on olive open pollinated progenies is favored by the fact that self‐pollination is very rare on this species . The use of germplasm banks as a starting point for breeding programs is another convenient strategy for maximizing the genetic variability.…”