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- Author or Editor: Valerio Cristofori x
In Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea, tetraploid genotypes do not exist in nature. Herein, we report the first example of selection of tetraploid olive plants, obtained by combining physical mutagenesis and biotechnology techniques. Stable tetraploid (4n) and diploid (2n) genotypes were isolated in vitro through shoot-tip fragmentation of two mixoploid mutants derived from the gamma irradiation of self-incompatible Leccino and self-compatible Frantoio cultivars. In this study, the stable mutants FRM5-4n, FRM5-2n, LM3-4n, and LM3-2n were characterized in the field for vegetative and reproductive behavior with the aim to use them as varieties or dwarfing rootstocks. The stable 4n genotype of Leccino acquired self-fertility whereas the 4n Frantoio maintained it. A high and constant yield was showed by LM3-2n during 9 years of observation, maintaining the same oil quality as the Leccino wild type (wt). Moreover, the LM3-2n acquired the capacity to be intercompatible with the diploid mutant Leccino dwarf (LD) and with the Leccino wt. This acquired property would allow for a reduction of heterozygosity in the offspring, if crossed with each other for some generations and with the Leccino wt, because it is a sort of self-fertilization. When used as rootstocks, both 4n and 2n Leccino mutants proved to be very effective for reducing the scion size of the high-vigor Canino cultivar, which is well known for its excellent extravirgin oil. Finally, it was demonstrated that the self-grafting of vigorous cultivar caused a reduction in plant size, thus suggesting that it is possible to produce semidwarf plants from vigorous genotypes to consider them in high-density olive orchards.
An accurate protocol for the in vitro propagation of a commercial wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) cv. Nixia 1 has been developed through axillary shoot proliferation. Driver and Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; 0.5 mg/L) and sucrose 3% w/v gave the best results compared with other basal media tested, with significantly improved production of multiple shoots direct from nodal segment explants, resulting in an average of 6.73 shoots/explant with an average of 7.45 nodes/shoot that would potentially form new explants. Rooting of shoot explants was carried out both in vitro and ex vitro with 0.5 and 1 mg/L of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), with or without adding putrescine (160 mg/L). In all cases, rooting efficiency resulted very high, and putrescine was effective only when combined with a low concentration of auxin. Plantlets were hardened off in jiffy pots under greenhouse conditions, with a survival rate of more than 90%. Ex vitro rooting, performed by dipping in an aqueous solution of IBA 100 mg/L, is the preferred technique not only because rooting and acclimatization are very high but also reducing micropropagation to one phase is more economical.
Accurate and nondestructive methods to determine individual leaf areas of plants are a useful tool in physiological and agronomic research. Determining the individual leaf area (LA) of small fruit like raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.), redcurrant (Ribes rubrum L.), blackberry (Rubus fruticosus L.), gooseberry (Ribes grossularia L.), and highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) involves measurements of leaf parameters such as length (L) and width (W) or some combinations of these parameters. A 2-year investigation was carried out during 2006 (on seven raspberry, seven redcurrant, six blackberry, five gooseberry, and two highbush blueberry cultivars) and 2007 (on one cultivar per species) under open field conditions to test whether a model could be developed to estimate LA of small fruits across cultivars. Regression analysis of LA versus L and W revealed several models that could be used for estimating the area of individual small fruit leaves. A linear model having LW as the independent variable provided the most accurate estimate (highest R 2, smallest mean square error, and the smallest predicted residual error sum of squares) of LA in all small fruit berries. Validation of the model having LW of leaves measured in the 2007 experiment coming from other cultivars of small fruit berries showed that the correlation between calculated and measured small fruit berries LAs was very high. Therefore, these models can estimate accurately and in large quantities the LA of small fruit plants in many experimental comparisons without the use of any expensive instruments.