IN-VITRO GERMINATION OF EMBRYOS FOR SPEEDING-UP SEEDLING DEVELOPMENT IN OLIVE BREEDING PROGRAMS

The germination potential of olive seeds without the sclerified endoca rp (stoneless seeds) and growth of the seedlings were compared with ge rmination and growth of excised and in vitro cultured embryos of ten o live cultivars. The number of empty stones and the number of stones wi th two seeds were also determined for each of the cultivars. Isolated embryos of all the cultivars germinated uniformly within 10-14 days in culture, while the mean germination time of stoneless seeds was 55-95 days depending on the cultivar. The percentage of embryo germination was 3-15 fold higher than that of stoneless seeds according to cultiva r. Root growth was more rapid in plants originating from seeds than fr om excised embryos. The growth of plantlets derived from in vitro germ inated embryos in the greenhouse was normal. Thus, embryo culture woul d increase the efficiency and shorten the time for starting initial pr ogeny evaluation of olive breeding programmes. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce B.V.