ResiXO: a project aimed to develop resistant germoplasm for the protection of olive tree heritage in Salento (southern Apulia, Italy)

With the general aim to find sustainable genetic/agronomic solutions for the coexistence of the strategic olive sector with the threat of the Xylella fastidiosa epidemic in Apulia, a five-year project, 'Strategies for the containment of olive quick decline: a research and study of resistant germoplasm for the protection of olive tree heritage in Salento (ResiXO)', co-funded in December 2018 by Apulia Region and CNR-Istituto Per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante. The Project has two main goals: several resistant varieties for the new future olive plantations, the protection/survival of the monumental trees substituting the susceptible canopy, by overgrafting, with the resistant cvs. ResiXO, even if enriched by new important experimental activities, inheriting over 13 hectares of experimental fields and pre-select panel of asymptomatic seedlings with interesting phenotypic and technological traits, starts from pre-existing activities, initiated in 2016, of olive germplasm's screening for the identification of new resistant varieties through: the over-grafting of about 450 regional Italian and Mediterranean varieties onto infected mother plants; the selection, in strongly infected areas, of resistant/tolerant spontaneous seedlings. Besides those activities ResiXO aims to verify, study, validate and transfer practical innovations such as: a) new resistant cvs or candidate varieties; b) new information on genomic and metabolic mechanisms of resistance / tolerance; c) new quick and reliable protocols for testing olive germplasm for resistance/tolerance; d)new eco-sustainable strategies for the control of vector populations in infected areas; e)improved over-grafting alternative protocols adapted to specific local conditions and applicable on large scale to save the landscape and the heritage of the monumental olive trees.