DNA and Paternity Studies in Olives
 Cultivar identification using DNA typing
The unambiguous identification of olive cultivars is important for the olive industry as far as management practises and performance expectations, including yield and quality of oil. A system using genetic fingerprinting was developed in our laboratory that can be used for identification of all the major olive cultivars in Australia. A DNA typing service for the industry based on this marker system is now running through the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) in Adelaide.
Researcher: Dr Jenny Guerin
Pollination studies and paternity analysis
 The olive is a wind-pollinated species that generally exhibits self-incompatibility and effective pollination is required for productive fruit set. We are currently investigating the pollination requirements of olive cultivars using hand pollinations, microscopic observation of pollen tube growth and fruit set observations. A molecular approach is also being used via paternity analysis of olive embryos based on the DNA fingerprinting system. Our research has identified that cross-compatibilities and incompatibilities varied between the cultivars studied. These findings are important to the industry and demonstrate the need for inter-planting with a range of cultivars. Large single variety blocks would benefit from the introduction of compatible cultivars to improve yields.
The discovery of novel genes involved in self-incompatibility in olive has been initiated by targeting genes that are up-regulated in pistil tissue during anthesis. Several candidate genes have been identified using a cDNA subtraction technique and are currently undergoing further expression analysis.
Researchers: Dr Jenny Guerin, Esmaiel Seify (PhD student), Dr Brent Kaiser
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