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. 2023 Feb 22:14:1149570.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1149570. eCollection 2023.

Efficiency of breeding olives for resistance to Verticillium wilt

Pedro Valverde  1 , Diego Barranco  1 , Francisco Javier López-Escudero  1 , Concepcion Munoz Díez  1 , Carlos Trapero  1
Affiliations

Efficiency of breeding olives for resistance to Verticillium wilt

Pedro Valverde et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Olive trees are the most cultivated evergreen trees in the Mediterranean Basin, where they have deep historical and socioeconomic roots. The fungus Verticillium dahliae develops inside the vascular bundles of the host, and there are no effective applicable treatments, making it difficult to control the disease. In this sense, the use of integrated disease management, specifically the use of resistant cultivars, is the most effective means to alleviate the serious damage that these diseases are causing and reduce the expansion of this pathogen. In 2008, the University of Cordoba started a project under the UCO Olive Breeding Program whose main objective has been to develop new olive cultivars with high resistance to Verticillium wilt. Since 2008, more than 18,000 genotypes from 154 progenies have been evaluated. Only 19.9% have shown some resistance to the disease in controlled conditions and only 28 have been preselected due to their resistance in field condition and remarkable agronomic characteristics. The results of this study represent an important advancement in the generation of resistant olive genotypes that will become commercial cultivars currently demanded by the olive growing sector. Our breeding program has proven successful, allowing the selection of several new genotypes with high resistance to the disease and agronomical performance. It also highlights the need for long-term field evaluations for the evaluation of resistance and characterization of olive genotypes.

Keywords: Olea europaea; Verticillium dahliae (Kleb); agronomical traits; breeding program; genotypes; new cultivars.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phase 1. University of Cordoba Verticillium Olive breeding program (A) Seed germination; (B, C) seedling in V. dahliae evaluation in greenhouse; (D) resistant genotypes ready to be planted in the experimental fields.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phase 3: (A) plantation day; (B) ‘Picual’ (left) and ‘Frantoio’ (right) cultivars in evaluation in the experimental field; (C, D) genotypes selected and planted with repetitions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Steps and timeframe of the development of new cultivars resistant to Verticillium dahliae under the UCO Olive Breeding Program.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

This project was partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (project AGL 2011-30137), by the Andalusian Regional Government (project P10-AGR6573) and by the “Interprofesional de Aceite de Oliva Español” Association. We thank all the collaborating companies, especially the agroquivir Cooperative and the Cotobajo S.A. and BALAM Agriculture S.L. companies, as well as the Oficina Comarcal Agraria “Las Marismas” (Lebrija, Sevilla). We would like thanks all the farmers and advisors involved for their essential participation and technical assistance, and particularly to Cándido Medina, owner of the Villanueva de la Reina farm. We also would like to thank Octavio Arquero and Nicolás Serrano from IFAPA for their work and advice selecting some of the experimental fields.

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