Olive seed germination and initial seedling vigor as influenced by stratification treatment and the female parent

Abstract

The germination of seeds and the growth of the generated plant are two phases of great importance in an olive breeding program. In this work, three stratification treatments and five cultivars (Hojiblanca, Manzanilla Cacereña, Manzanilla de Sevilla, Toffahi, and Uovo di Piccione) used as female parents in a breeding program for table olivewereevaluatedalongtwoyearstoimprovegerminationprotocols.Thestratification treatments affected seed germination (percent seeds with radicle), radicle length, seedling emergence (percent emerged hypocotyls), and the average time of emergence. The cultivars have shown great variability with respect to the requirements of the seeds and seedling growth performance. None of the treatments with heat application (25 8C) after chill (14 8C) improved the percentage of germinated seeds and seedling emergence in any year compared with the control treatment (30 days at 14 8C). Cultivars such as Manzanilla de Sevilla and Toffahi seem to be a good choice of female progenitors to improve emergence rates and to obtain early vigorous progenies, a character that has been related to a shorter juvenile period of the seedlings. Moreover, in these progenies, a clear lower apical dominance was found from the first stages of seedling growth. The olive fruit and seed traits were also influenced by the female parent. In fact, 'Hojiblanca' and 'Uovo di Piccione' showed a higher number of empty seed fruits and double seed fruits compared with the other studied cultivars.