Characterizing isozymes of some Tunisian olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars

Isozymes have been used as genetic markers to complete the primary characterization (morphological, pomological and chemical) of the 18 olive tree cultivars (among them 5 cultivars namely Chemlali) planted in the north, the center and the south of Tunisia, In fact, we have analyzed two enzymatic systems which are the esterase and the leucine aminopeptidase using leaf extracts on horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. The results have allowed to observe 8 alleles of the three polymorphic loci, and to identify 6 varieties from the 18 which were analyzed. In addition our study has allowed to partly eliminate the ambiguity concerning the "Chemlali" variety. In fact, "Chemlali Sfax" was found to be different from "Chemlali North", "Chemlali Tataouine" and "Chemlali Djerba" while "Chemlali Sfax" seems to have the same genotype as "Chemlali Zarzis" for the two enzymes.