OVULE DEVELOPMENT IN NORMAL AND PARTHENOCARPIC OLIVE FRUITS

Productivity in the olive is often reduced by the occurrence of parthenocarpic fruitlets known as shotberries. In Cordoba, the cultivar ‘Gordal Sevillana’ produces shotberries with persistent petals, thus allowing their early identification and utilization in studies of shotberry development. Ovule growth and anatomical characteristics were examined for normal and parthenocarpic ovaries of that cultivar. Abnormal ovule development, such as incomplete embryo sac formation, is frequent but dues not appear to be a cause of shotberry formation. The onset of parthenocarpic growth is accompanied by the expansion of all four ovules in contrast to the selection and growth of a single functional ovule in normal fertilized ovaries.