Chloroplast-DNA variation in the wild and cultivated olives (Olea europaeaL.) of Morocco

Polymorphism in the lengths of restriction fragments of the whole cpDNA mol ecule was studied in cultivated and wild olive growing throughout Morocco. The main Moroccan varieties and old trees cultivated locally (66 individual s), wild olive (45 individuals) and 5 individuals of the taxon, O. laperrin ei subsp. maroccana endemic to the western part of the High Atlas, were sco red for 10 restriction enzymes. A total of 470 restriction fragments were o btained of which 18 were variable. Four chlorotypes were identified. Chloro type (I), predominant in wild and cultivated olive of the whole Mediterrane an Basin, was observed in all the cultivated trees and in 74% of the wild t rees (oleasters) analysed from Morocco, confirming that cultivated and wild olive material are closely related maternally. Chlorotypes II and III, eac h characterised by a length mutation, were observed exclusively in Moroccan wild types, suggesting that these did not originate exclusively in cultiva ted varieties, as reported previously by several authors. As compared to th e predominant chlorotype I, Chlorotype IV, characterised by a site mutation , was present exclusively in the maroccana individuals, confirming the orig inality of this taxon.