Vito S. Polito
	Professor of Plant Sciences Co-chair, UC Davis Olive Center Department of Plant Sciences University of California Davis CA 95616 USA Teaching Graduate Programs Research Recent Publications

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TEACHING GRADUATE GROUPS (Information for Prospective Gradate Students) Horticulture and Agronomy Plant Biology CLASSES (I am on sabbatical leave for the 2007-08 academic year and will not be teaching until Fall 2008.) Pomology 10, Fruits and Nuts of California and the World. A General Education course for first-year students. Winter Quarter. Plant Biology 174, Biological Principles of Fruit Production (with T. DeJong). Lectures and field exercises on biology of pomological species. Spring Quarter. Viticulture & Enology 210, Grape Berry Growth and Development (with D. Adams). Graduate-level. Spring Quarter, odd-numbered years.
RESEARCH My research program focuses on reproductive biology of tree-crop species, especially almond, pistachio, olive and walnut. My colleagues and I are currently working on factors affecting pollination and fruit set in walnut and apricot, pollination dynamics and gene flow in walnut and other wind-pollinated species, olive compatibility relationships, fruit development in pistachio and documenting genetic diversity in olive cultivars and wild germplasm sources. Walnut Pistillate Flower Abortion (PFA) limits set in many walnut cultivars, resulting in crop losses in excess of 80% for severely affected cultivars such as 'Serr'. We established positive correlations between high pollen loads and PFA, and demonstrated that reducing pollen load reduces PFA and increases walnut yield. The PFA response correlates with and appears to be triggered by post-pollination ethylene production. I am working with Holly Johnson, a Ph.D. student, and Cooperative Extension Advisors to further elucidate the ethylene relationships and to determine field-based methods to control PFA using the ethylene antagonists AVG and 1-MCP. Environmental parameters that affect pollination and fruit set in apricot are poorly understood. Matt DeCault, a Horticulture graduate student in my program, is working to determine temperature responses for the important effective pollination period parameters: Pollen germination, pollen tube growth rates and ovule viability. With colleagues at UC Santa Barbara and the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Davis, I am investigating genetic relationships among olive cultivars and selected populations of olives in California. We are using SSR markers to develop DNA fingerprints of important olive cultivars.	Olive Andromonoecy Agrobacterium Almond Spurs AlmondFlowerDevelopment
RECENT PUBLICATIONS Gratton, S.R., M.J. Berenguer, J.H. Connell, V.S. Polito, P.M. Vossen. 2006. Olive oil production as influenced by differnt quantities of applied water. Agric. Water Management 85: 133-140. (download reprint 248kB pdf) Berenguer, M.J., P.M. Vossen, S.R. Grattan, J.H. Connell, and V.S. Polito. 2006. Tree irrigation levels for optimum chemical and sensory properties of olive oil. HortScience 41: 427-432. (download reprint 238kB pdf) Cuevas, J. and V.S. Polito. 2004. The Role of Staminate Flowers in the Breeding System of Olea europaea (Oleaceae): an Andromonoecious, Wind-pollinated Taxon. Annals of Botany 93: 547-553. (download reprint) Escobar, M.A., E.L. Civerolo, V.S. Polito, K.A. Pinney, A.M. Dandekar. 2003. Characterization of oncogene-silenced transgenic plants: Implications for Agrobacterium biology and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Molecular Plant Pathology 4:57-65. (download reprint 372kB pdf) Polito, V.S., K. Pinney, R. Buchner, and W. Olson. 2002. Streptomycin applications to control walnut blight disease can prevent fertilization and increase fruit drop. HortScience 37:940-942. (download reprint 86kB pdf) Polito, V.S. 2002. The shoot apex in transition: Time-lapse, video simulation of floral morphogenesis in almond (Prunus dulcis) buds. XXVI International Horticulture Congress. Polito, V.S., K. Pinney, R. Heerema, S. Weinbaum. 2002. Flower differentiation and spur leaf area in almond. J. Hortic. Sci. Biotechnol. 77:474-478. Polito, V.S., K.D. Larson, K. Pinney. 2002. Anatomical and histochemical factors associated with bronzing development in strawberry fruit. J. Amer. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 127:355-357 (download reprint 79kB pdf) Lamp, B., J.A. Connell, R. Duncan, M. Viveros, V.S. Polito. 2001. Almond flower development: Floral initiation and organogenesis. J. Amer. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 126:689-696 (download reprint 172kB pdf) Cuevas, J., A.J. Díaz-Hermoso, D. Galián, J.J. Hueso, V. Pinillos, M. Prieto, D. Sola & V.S. Polito. 2001. Response to cross pollination and choice of pollinisers for the olive cultivars (Olea europaea L.) 'Manzanilla de Sevilla,' `Hojiblanca' and 'Picual.' Olivae 85:26-32. Escobar, M. A., Park, J.-I., Polito, V.S., Leslie, C.A., Uratsu, S.A. McGranahan, G.H, Dandekar, A.M. 2000. Using GFP as a scorable marker in walnut somatic embryo transformation. Ann. Bot. 85: 831-835. (download reprint 370kB pdf) Nyomora, A. M. S., P. Brown, K. Pinney, V. S. Polito. 2000. Foliar application of boron to almond trees affects pollen quality. J. Amer. Soc, Hort. Sci 125: 265-270. Polito, V.S. and K. Pinney. 1999. Endocarp dehiscence in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Internat. J. Plant Sci. 160:827-835. (download reprint 1.7MB pdf) Polito, V.S. 1999. Seedlessness and parthenocarpy in Pistacia vera L. (Anacardiaceae): Temporal changes in patterns of vascular transport to ovules. Ann. Bot. 83:363-368. (download reprint 240kB pdf) Fabbri, A., L. Ferguson, V.S. Polito. 1998. Crop load related deformity of developing Pistacia vera cv 'Kerman' nuts. Scientia Horticulturae 77:219-234. (download reprint 2.2MB pdf) Hormaza, J. I., K. Pinney, and V.S. Polito. 1998. Genetic diversity of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) based on Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Markers. Economic Botany 52:78-87. Cuevas, J. and V.S. Polito. 1997. Compatibility relationships in 'Manzanillo' olive. HortScience 32: 1056-1058. Polito, V.S. and K. Pinney. 1997. The relationship between phenology of pistillate flower organogenesis and mode of heterodichogamy in Juglans regia L. (Juglandaceae). Sexual Plant Reproduction 10:36-39. (Download reprint 620kB pdf) Hormaza, J. I. and V.S. Polito. 1996. Correlation in the tolerance to ozone between sporophytes and male gametophytes of several fruit and nut tree species (Rosaceae). Sexual Plant Reproduction. 9:44-48. Hormaza, J. I. and V.S. Polito. 1996. Pistillate and staminate flower development in dioecious Pistacia vera (Pistachio, Anacardiaceae). Amer. J. Bot 83: 759-766. (Download reprint 2.1MB pdf) Fabbri, A. J. I. Hormaza, and V.S. Polito. 1995. Identification and patterns of relatedness among olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars determined using RAPD markers. J. Amer. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 120:538-542. Dollo, L., J. I. Hormaza, and V.S. Polito. 1995. RAPD polymorphisms among pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars. Fruit Varieties Journal. 49:47-152 Hormaza, J. I., L. Dollo and V.S. Polito. 1994. Determination of relatedness and geographical movements of Pistacia vera L. (Pistachio; Anacardiaceae) germplasm by RAPD analysis. Economic Botany 48:349-358. Hormaza, J. I., L. Dollo and V.S. Polito. 1994. Identification of a RAPD marker linked to sex determination in Pistacia vera using bulked segregant analysis. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 89:9-13.	Walnut GFP Expression Pistachio Endocarp Dehiscence Pistachio Ovule Supplemental Olive Pollination Pistachio Sex Determination Walnut Heterodichogamy Pistachio Pistillate Flower Development Movement of Pistachio Germplasm
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