The origins of the domestication of the olive tree

C R Biol. 2009 Dec;332(12):1059-64. doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2009.08.001. Epub 2009 Sep 5.

Abstract

The present diversity of the olive (crop) and oleaster (wild) tree was investigated with nuclear and cytoplasm markers. Patterns of diversity of the wild form inferred eleven ancestral populations in the East and the West of the Mediterranean basin. Patterns of diversity for cultivars are less clear, but we showed that cultivars admixed to nine groups that corresponded to oleaster ancestral populations. We inferred that nine domestication events took place in the olive, but these origins were blurred by gene flow from oleaster and by human displacements. These origins of domestication probably reflected different reasons and uses to domesticate the oleaster.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / history*
  • Alleles
  • Cell Nucleus / genetics
  • Cytoplasm / genetics
  • Gene Dosage
  • Genes, Plant
  • Genetic Markers
  • Genetic Variation
  • History, Ancient
  • Mediterranean Region
  • Olea / genetics*

Substances

  • Genetic Markers