Genetic variation within the olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivar Oblica detected using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers

Abstract

Oblica is the predominant olive cultivar in Croatia, spread widely in all the olive growing regions. Morphological variability within the cultivar is well documented but often it has been attributed to environmental factors rather than to genetic ones. In order to investigate intracultivar variability on the molecular level, olive samples from 4 growing regions in Croatia (South  Dalmatia, Middle Dalmatia, Kvarner islands and Iner Dalmatia) were screened for amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP). DNA was extracted from leaf tissue and 9 AFLP primer combinations were used. Genetic distances
between individual trees were calculated using Dice similarity coefficient and the dendrogram based on UPGMA cluster analysis was constructed. Preliminary results of AFLP analysis indicate that the cultivar Oblica can be regarded as mixture of clonal variants.