Evaluation of Olive Germplasm in Iran on the Basis of Morphological Traits: Assessment of 'Zard' and 'Rowghani' Cultivars

Abstract

Iran, located in the Eastern Mediterranean, shares many geographical characteristics and common historical roots with the countries of the Mediterranean basin, which are home to the major known cultivars of olive. Iran, for its part, harbors numerous olive cultivars, whose morphological and biological characters are yet to be characterized. This is important both from commercial and nutritional points of view. Building upon earlier work and in conjunction with a molecular genetics program for molecular characterization of Iranian olive cultivars, we undertook to characterize olive germplasm of Iran on the basis of morphological characters. To reach this goal, we started our research with the study of two important cultivars in Iran, 'Zard' and 'Rowghani'. This survey was performed over a one-year period. Samples were gathered from 281 ('Zard', 212 and 'Rowghani', 69) adult trees in eight regions with different ecological condition in the North of country (Roodbar, Manjil, Aliabad, Joodaki, Vakhman, Bahramabad, and Gilvan). Forty samples of flower, fruit, endocarp and leaf were collected from each tree. Multivariate statistical methods including cluster analysis and Principal Component Analysis were used for data analysis. Our preliminary results indicate a considerable variation within the traditionally recognized cultivars of olive in Iran. A more detailed assessment of morphological characters is in progress.

Fruit and Endocarp Properties in Relation to Intra-Varietal Morphological Diversity of Montenegrin Olive Variety ‘Žutica’

“…The data confirmed the suitability of multivariate analysis as a basis for further selection on a wider range of individuals. There was no grouping of 'Žutica' individuals according to the location, as was observed in studies of the varieties 'Zard' and 'Rowghani' [Hosseini-Mazinani et al 2004] and 'Oblica' [Strikic et al 2009].…”

“…Characterization of the material using multivariate analyses (PCA and cluster analysis) enabled us to gain an overall view of variability amongst the accessions based on the complete range of traits. PCA has been used in the evaluation of olive germplasm [Cantini et al 1999, Trentacoste andPuertas 2011] and in analysis of olive genetic diversity [Bandelj et al 2002, Hosseini-Mazinani et al 2004, Hannachi et al 2008, Uylaşer et al 2008, Strikic et al 2009, Zaher et al 2011. The PCA used in our work showed that more than 91% of observed variability was explained with the first three components, similar to the results reported by Cantini et al [1999] for olive accessions in the germplasm collection in Italy.…”

High Genetic Diversity Detected in Olives beyond the Boundaries of the Mediterranean Sea

“…Reference cultivars were selected based on a previous characterization of Iranian olive cultivars [17], [25] and samples were derived from the Tarom and Rudbar collections. The 85 samples represent a wide range of olive trees from the Iranian plateau, directly collected from their original sites of spreading.…”

IDENTIFICATION OF MOLECULAR MARKERS LINKED WITH SOME HORTICULTURE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME OLIVE (Olea europaea L.) CULTIVARS

“…RAPD technique has been employed to develop genetic fingerprints and to assess genetic diversity in a wide range of mango (Ismail, 2003). Several reports came out in which RAPD genetic markers were used in order to identify Olive cultivars and to determine genetic relationships among them (Hosseini-Mazinani and Samaee, 2004).…”