RESEARCH ARTICLE Monumental olive trees of Cyprus contributed to the establishment of the contemporary olive germplasm Katerina Anestiadou1☯, Nikolaos Nikoloudakis1☯, Marianna Hagidimitriou2, Andreas Katsiotis1* 1 Department of Agricultural Science, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus, 2 Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. *
[email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract a1111111111 a1111111111 Even though Cyprus was an important crossing point for the westward spread of olive, and a1111111111 one of the primary regions of domestication, its genetic recourses remain uncharted at a great extent. Throughout the centuries, a number of ancient olive trees remain in the same orchards, contributing to Cypriot oleiculture and society. In an attempt to explore this monu- mental genetic pool, a survey was conducted to identify centennial olive trees in rural prov- OPEN ACCESS inces of Cyprus. Microsatellites were employed in order to study their genetic composition Citation: Anestiadou K, Nikoloudakis N, (including rootstocks when feasible) and to establish possible associations among geno- Hagidimitriou M, Katsiotis A (2017) Monumental types. High numbers of specific alleles, suggestive of the distinctiveness of this germplasm, olive trees of Cyprus contributed to the establishment of the contemporary olive were detected, and both grafting and rootstock propagation was verified. Moreover, it