IN VITRO ESTABLISHMENT AND CULTURE OF TWO SICILIAN GENOTYPES OF OLEA EUROPAEA L.

Sicily is among the Italian regions with the largest cultivation area of olive (Olea europaea L.). The applications of in vitro tissue culture, as practical tool of propagation and germplasm storage, were not sufficiently exploited in this species, because of the lack of efficient in vitro establishment protocols and culture for the majority of the cultivars. In fact, it is well known that the success of in vitro culture is strongly dependent on the species and, within the species, on the cultivars. This study reports the in vitro establishment of two Sicilian olive cultivars, grown in greenhouse. Both genotypes showed a percentage of in vitro sprouting higher than that one previously obtained with explants collected from mature plants grown in open field. The collection time was not determinant on in vitro response.