Identification of Olive Tree Cultivars with SSR and SCAR Markers

There is still disagreement about how sexual reproduction works in olive plants. However, there are some reports indicating the occurrence of self-incompatibility and high rates of outcrossing in this specie. Consequently, the uncontrolled pollination is a serious limitation to the genetic homogeneity in orchards originated from seedlings. Thus, the aim of this study was evaluate the genetic identity of eight olive genotypes supposed to belong to cultivar ‘Arbequina’ by using microsatellite markers together with SCAR markers. One accession corresponding to cultivar 'Arbequina' from the olive germplasm of Agricultural Research Agency of Minas Gerais was also incorporated into the analysis as reference genotype. Microsatellite and SCAR markers used in this work showed that all olive samples have the same allelic profile. Additionally, the accumulated probability of identity (PI) of 2.9 x 10^-6and the probability of exclusion (PE) of 0.98 reinforce the supposition which all samples belong to the cultivar 'Arbequina' and must have originated from vegetative propagation. The authors would like to thank Coordenadoria de Assistência Técnica Integrada de São Paulo for kindly provided the olive samples and the financial support from FAPEMIG, CAPES, CNPq and FINEP.