Vegetative Propagation and ISSR-Based Genetic Identification of Genotypes of Ilex aquifolium ‘Agrifoglio Commune’

Maria Tsaktsira, Eleana Chavale, Stefanos Kostas, Elias Pipinis, Parthena Tsoulpha, Stefanos Hatzilazarou, Fotios-Theocharis Ziogou, Irini Nianiou-Obeidat, Ivan Iliev, Athanasios Economou and Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes
Additional contact information
Maria Tsaktsira: Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Eleana Chavale: Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Stefanos Kostas: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Elias Pipinis: Laboratory of Silviculture, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Parthena Tsoulpha: Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Stefanos Hatzilazarou: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Fotios-Theocharis Ziogou: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Irini Nianiou-Obeidat: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Ivan Iliev: Faculty of Ecology and Landscape Architecture, University of Forestry, 10 Kliment Ohridski Blvd., 1797 Sofia, Bulgaria
Athanasios Economou: Laboratory of Floriculture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes: Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: The market demand for interesting varieties and cultivars of Ilex aquifolium necessitates the exploration and sustainable exploitation of plant individuals thriving in nature without human care. In this work, an effort was made to develop a simple and reliable protocol for vegetative propagation of I. aquifolium plants, with desirable-for-market characteristics, grown in a mountain area of Halkidiki, Greece, and at the same time to proceed with their genetic identification using molecular markers. From these plants, new plants were vegetatively produced which afterward were used as stock plants for providing the needed shoot cuttings for the experiments of rooting and leaves for their genetic analysis. Factors studied in formulating a propagation protocol included the season of cutting collection and the application of 0.2% 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), as well as the type of shoot cuttings (terminal, subterminal) and the application of auxin. It was found that application of NAA was crucial for rooting response and number of roots formed, whereas the season effect was not significant on rooting. Terminal cuttings treated with 0.2% NAA exhibited the highest rooting percentage (100%) and formed abundant roots (25.7) compared to subterminal ones. All rooted cuttings, after being potted and transferred to acclimatization greenhouse, were successfully hardened. In the spring of the next year, the produced plants blossomed abundantly and formed fruits (bright red berries) presenting their characteristic ornamental appearance that was maintained until Christmas. For the identification procedure, the genotypic profile of the stock plants was also investigated by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) genetic analysis, revealing that they were genetically the same both among themselves and when compared with a certified I. aquifolium ‘Agrifoglio Commune’ individual, but they differed genetically from I. aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’ and I. aquifolium ‘Hellas’.

Keywords: biodiversity; English holly; molecular markers; NAA; ornamentals; PCoA; propagation protocol; shoot cuttings; STRUCTURE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10345/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10345/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10345-:d:636712

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().