ISHS Acta Horticulturae 356: II International Symposium on Olive Growing
THE TIMING AND DEVELOPMENTAL CONTEXT OF OLIVE EMBRYO GROWTH |
| Author: | H.F. Rapoport |
| Abstract:
In the olive, seed development plays an important role in fruit growth, the pattern of flower and fruit abscission, and the level of flowering the following year. It is not clear, however, whether the influence of the seed on those processes is due to the embryo or to other components of seed development. As an initial aproach to this problem, the timing of embryo development was observed in anatomical studies for five varieties of olive growing in Córdoba, Spain: 'Arbequina', 'Gordal Sevillana', 'Hojiblanca', 'Lechín de Sevilla' and 'Manzanilla'. Twelve stages were defined in order to compare embryo development at four, six and eight weeks after bloom. The timing and progress of embryo development differed among varieties but did not coincide with any observed differences in ovary expansion and maturation. These results suggest that in olive the embryo is relatively independent in the developmental interactions between the seed, the fruit and the tree in general. However the similarity of endosperm cytological changes associated with developing and aborting embryos suggests that the embryo plays an important role at the time it initiates growth. | |
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