Morphological and molecular analyses for the characterization of a group of Italian olive cultivars

A group of olive varieties, commonlycultivated in the sub-coastal area of theEmilia-Romagna region, in Italy's northernolive cultivation area limit, weredescribed using both morphological andmolecular approaches. The morpho-biologicalcharacters of each accession were collectedaccording to the UPOV's descriptor list(International Union for the Protection ofNew Varieties of Plants). Biometric indexesof inflorescence, leaf, fruit, and stone,measured using the Video Image Analysis(VIA), were compared to the molecular dataobtained on the same set of cultivars usingAFLP (Amplified Fragment LengthPolymorphism) and SSR (Simple SequenceRepeat) markers. The morphological andmolecular data led to similarrepresentations of the cultivarrelationships. However, only the AFLP andSSR data were able to characterize specificolive varieties and identify erroneousdenominations and cases of synonymy.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]