GENETIC DIVERSITY OF A FERAL POPULATION OF OLIVE TREES SURROUNDING AN ABANDONED GROVE

Feral or escape olives are the progeny of cultivated olives introduced into South Australia since 1836. They now grow wild in all regions of the State and form a large gene pool.
Olive trees are predominantly outcrossing and show a high level of genetic variation.
To quantify the extent of this variability, and to assess the amount of genetic drift that may occur with time, a population of olive trees was studied at a remote part of Kangaroo Island (138°E, 35°S). The central part of the population appeared to be an original grove, with numerous feral trees growing on the surrounding hills and valleys.
No records are available to identify any portion of the grove, and no other olive groves are now located nearby.
DNA was extracted from various individual trees within this population and subjected to the RAPD-PCR technique.
PCR bands were analysed and variability was partitioned into hierarchical components using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). Three significant molecular groups were identified, and the relevance of the genetic similarities of these groups to the evolution of the population is discussed.

International Symposium on Molecular Markers for Characterizing Genotypes and Identifying Cultivars in Horticulture

G. Mekuria, G. Collins, M. Sedgley

Olea, olive, genetic diversity, feral, DNA fingerprint

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.546.29