The aim of this work was to assess growth traits during the initial developmental stages of olive seedlings, which could be correlated to time to first flowering, facilitating fast selection in olive breeding programs. The experimental material consisted of 232 olive seedlings derived from controlled crosses of 'Kalamon' with self (KA × KA), with 'Amphissis' (KA × AM), and with 'Koroneiki' (KA × KO) and from open pollination of 'Kalamon', 'Amphissis', 'Koroneiki', 'Chalkidikis', and 'Manzanillo'. Vegetative traits of the seedlings, including canopy height and diameter, length of lateral vegetation, number of leaves, mean and total leaf area per plant, leaf shape characteristics, and specific leaf area (SLA), were recorded until 15 months after sowing. The first seedlings to initiate flowers, 4 years after sowing, were also recorded. The existence of correlations between the above growth traits and time to first flowering was investigated. In single-branched seedlings 6 months after sowing, height measured at this stage was significantly correlated with the mean and total leaf area per plant, specific leaf area, and other vegetative traits measured 15 months after sowing. Seedlings with high values of these parameters were the first to initiate flowers 33 months later. Our results indicated that pre-selection of olive seedlings for earliness of first flowering is possible, based on vegetative characteristics assessed very early in their development.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

of in vitro bud regeneration: A comparative study of the interaction between light and IAA in a wild type and an aurea mutant of Lycopersicon esculentum lo the presence of 0.2 (jiAf IAA both the wild type and the aurea. nntitant of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill, showed a low but signiftcant percentage of bud fonnation in the dark, whereas no bud fonnation occurred in the dark when 20 ^>M IAA was present in the tnedium. In both systems blue light always showed a strong promoting effect on bud regeneration, both as final percentage of i^generation and by shortening the initial lag period, suggestitig the action of a specific blue light photoreceptor. Red and far-red light increased the percentage of bud differentiation in wild type explants, with both the IAA concentrations. In the aurea mutant only red at the lowest IAA concentration had such an effect. The final percentage of bud regeneration under red light was greater or equal to that found under blue light in the wild type as well as in the aurea mutant esplants cultured in the presence of the lowest IAA concentration.