Analisi molecolare delle relazioni degli olivi antichi e delle varietà del Montenegro con quelle dell'Italia

Responsabili di progetto

Luciana Baldoni, Biljana Lazovic

Accordo

MONTENEGRO - MoS-not in force - Ministero della Scienza del Montenegro

Bando

CNR/MoS 2015-2016

Dipartimento

Scienze bio-agroalimentari

Area tematica

Scienze bio-agroalimentari

Stato del progetto

Nuovo

Proposta di ricerca

Montenegro is a small country on the Adriatic sea with 300 km coastline where olive trees grow from thousands of years. A relatively large number of varieties are currently cultivated in this country. The presence of hundreds of old olive trees, especially in Bar province, suggests that olive cultivation dates since thousands of years, but it is not yet clear if it was introduced in this area by Romans or by Greeks. Preliminary evaluation of old trees started in 2011 within a collaboration between the groups involved in this proposal (CNR, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources of Perugia and University of Montenegro). This bilateral project between Italy and Montenegro is part of a broader framework that was set up four years ago, to compare, at the molecular level, the olive diversity along Adriatic countries, up to Greece and Turkey.
We propose to streghten this collaboration and organizing a few focused tasks.

The activities to carry out within this bilateral project include:
1. Sample collection - Survey of the Montenegro areas where traditional olive cultivation is spread to collect samples of local varieties and ancient trees.
2. Performing a DNA fingerprinting of the Montenegro olive plants - On this purpose, different molecular markers will be applied, including SSRs, EST-SSRs, SNPs and chloroplast markers.
3. Comparing the genetic variability of old olive trees with local varieties of Montenegro - The obtained data will be analysed in order to verify their identity and their relationships with major varieties of this country.
4. Establishing the genetic relationships among Montenegrin and olive varieties from other Adriatic countries - Profiles of native olive genotypes from Montenegro will be compared with varieties diffused along the Adriatic countries, previously analysed at CNR-IBBR and made available to this project.
5. Evaluating the contribution of Montenegro ancient olive trees to the development of local cultivars - The characterization of the Montenegro olive germplasm will allow to evaluate its contribution to the development of present varieties.
6. Reciprocal transfer of knowledge and technical competences to young researchers - Thanks to the cooperation between the two institutions (Center for Subtropical Cultures in Bar, MNE, and CNR - Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources in Perugia, IT), young scientists from Montenegro will have the opportunity to be trained for molecular characterization of genetic resources, whereas the Italian young scientists will be involved in genetic resources sampling, collection and evaluation.

The following results are expected:
- A complete profile of the Montenegro olive germplasm;
- A comprehensive picture of the genetic variability of Montenegrin and Adriatic olive varieties;
- An estimation of the contribution of ancient olive trees to the development of local cultivars;
- Training of young researchers for the molecular evaluation of local genetic resources.

Obiettivi della ricerca

The Project aims at:
- Identifying and characterizing Montenegro olive varieties by applying the same protocols used for all other olive cultivars;
- Establishing the genetic relationships among Italian and Montenegrin olive varieties;
- Evaluating the contribution of Montenegro ancient olive trees to the development of local cultivars;
- Training young researchers for germplasm collection, evaluation and management.

Ultimo aggiornamento: 14/12/2024