Behaviour of stigma before and after pollination in olive tree (Olea europaea L.)

Abstract

Pollen - pistil recognition and interaction is a major step in the complex series of events leading to fertilization. The olive tree, Olea europaea L., is generally wind pollinated and has a wide range of self-compatibility, partial incompatibility and incompatibility, according to cultivar. The specific reports of compatibility relationships in this species, however, are highly variable and even contradictory, with differences between locations, types of tests and authors (Cuevas and Polito, 1997; Moutier, 2002; Wu et al., 2002) In addition to the genetic factors implied in pollen compatibility, the pistil plays a determinant role during pollen-pistil recognition. Nevertheless, in the olive little is known with regards to pistilar structures and their behaviour during the progamic phase. In the context of a project about pollen-pistil interaction in the olive tree we have started to study the morphology and changes observed in the olive stigma before and after the arrival of pollen, with special attention to the starch and lipid content.