ROOTOLEA

Improving rooting ability and propagation of olive cultivars

ABSTRACT

The intensification of olive tree orchards systems is demanding high volumes of propagation materials for new establishment and/or replacement. Olive clonal propagation has evolved through time from field- or nursery-planted hardwood cuttings, to semi-hardwood cuttings in greenhouses under mist, and, more recently, to micropropagation techniques. However, this technique relies on the genotype-dependent ability of cuttings to differentiate adventitious roots, leading to the categorization of cultivars into easy to hard-to-root. Rooting aptitude is a complex trait affected by both internal and external factors, including cultivars, collection time, type of cuttings, rooting environment and hormone–nutritional balance. Despite several decades of research and dozens of published studies, several gaps still exist at fundamental research levels on the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and genetics of the adventitious root formation process. The lack of basic knowledge severely hinders the design and exploration of innovative techniques and solutions, including promising biotechnological tools. ROOTOLEA goal is to close several knowledge gaps and test the intriguing possibility of using molecules and/or biotechnological approaches to decisively improve olive clonal propagation at nursery scale. The project aims to 1) fill the current gap in the molecular knowledge of adventitious rooting developmental process by tailoring transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches to well-known genetic and phenotypic background; 2) use this information as the foundation to develop GMO-free and small biomolecules-based tools for manipulating the rooting potential of olive cultivars, by exploiting and eventually integrating: i) RNAi-based molecules, ii) artificial short peptides (aptamers) or peptides analogous to natural peptide hormones (PHs); 3) compounds targeting epigenetics regulators; all these molecules, alone or combined, could be directly added to the propagation medium; 4) assess the performance of these tools through pilot trials in operative conditions, by involving and targeting end-users (nurseries, SMEs).

Identification Code: J53D23018550001

Total project cost: 22.988,00 €

Total cost DAFNE: 74.996,00 €

DAFNE Role: Partecipante

Scientific Supervisor DAFNE: Cristian Silvestri

Email: silvestri.c@unitus.it

Start date: 03/11/2023

End date: 02/11/2025 (richiesta di proroga fino al 28/02/2026)

LINK

https://www.unitus.it/ricerca/progetti-di-ricerca/progetti-prin-2022-pnrr/

PARTNERSHIP

UNIVERSITÀ DI MILANO, UNIVERSITÀ DI PADOVA

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