Konstantinos Kazantzis

Hellenic Agricultural Organization - Demeter | ELGO · Department of Deciduous Fruit Growing in Naoussa

In this study, samples collected from eight sweet cherry trees in northern Greece were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing for the presence of viruses. Bioinformatic analysis revealed the presence of divergent isolates of cherry latent virus 1 (CLV-1), a recently identified trichovirus in a sweet cherry accession imported into the USA from the R...

Local germplasm may be the basis for genetic improvement for sustainability and resilience, yet little is known about Greek peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] local genetic resources. The aims of the present study were to entail a prospection in the mainland and islands of Greece for local traditional and underutilized germplasm and study their gen...

Shoot blight is a common stone fruit disease that occurs worldwide. The disease is most commonly identified in early spring, shortly after bud break. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the fungus Cylindrocarpon destructans causing severe canker and shoot blight on cherry tree in Greece and worldwide. This study also investigated the effe...

Cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a very important crop in Greece and many other countries worldwide. In this study the susceptibility of cherry cultivars ‘Regina’ and ‘Ferrovia’ to pre- and postharvest fruit rots, shothole (Thyrostroma carpophilum), Alternaria leaf spot (Alternaria alternata) and fruit cracking was investigated. The results showed that...

In the present research project, we compare three different pollination types (viz., with insects, without insects, and solely with honeybees) of three widespread sweet cherry cultivars, with the aim of conducting measurements and drawing conclusions pertaining to the impact of pollinators on fruit set, yield, and fruit quality in commercial orchar...

Sweet cherry germplasm contains a high variety of phenotypes, which are associated to fruit size and shape, sugar content etc. High phenotypic variation can be a result of genetic or epigenetic diversity, that may interact through time. Recent studies provide evidence that besides allelic variation, epi-allelic variation can establish new heritable...

The current study characterizes the physicochemical, sensory and bioactive compound traits of twenty-two sweet cherry accessions, namely breeding lines, landraces and modern cultivars, embodying the majority of Greek germplasm. The evaluated accessions differ in several quality traits including colour parameters and textural properties as well as s...

Collaboration was started between DDFT, HAO-Demeter, Naoussa in Northern Greece (40°N; 15.7°C; med climate) and INRES, University of Bonn (50°N; temperate zone), Germany to identify climate resilient growing strategies, varieties and locations. Cherry was chosen as most sensitive fruit crop to changes in early flowering time (and hence risk of late...

Sweet cherries, Prunus avium L. (Rosaceae), are gaining importance due to their perenniallity and nutritional attributes beneficial for human health. Interestingly, sweet cherry cultivars exhibit a wide range of phenotypic diversity in important agronomic traits, such as flowering time and defense reactions against pathogens. In this study, whole-g...

Here we describe progress on the development of a RosBREED-led international collaboration to collate data on sweet cherry individuals (breeding progenies, selections, and cultivars) that have been phenotyped for traits of interest (maturity date, fruit size, firmness, acidity, and sweetness) and genotyped using the Illumina Infinium 6K cherry SNP...

Το 2018 σημειώθηκαν στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα σοβαρές προσβολές της δροσόφιλας σε κεράσια και σ’ ορισμένα άλλα φρούτα. Από παρακολούθηση του πληθυσμού του εντόμου σε κερασεώνες της Πέλλας, με χρήση παγίδων, το μέγιστο των πτήσεων του εντόμου σημειώθηκε στο διάστημα 8-16 Ιουλίου. Στις παγίδες χρησιμοποιήθηκαν διάφορα τροφικά ελκυστικά και συνδυασμοί τους, τ...

In this monograph we present evaluation data of Greek sweet cherry cultivars tested under field conditions at the Greek Pomology Institute (areas of Naoussa and Skydra). This study deals with all cultivars studied from 1970 till 2012. Starting from 2007, evaluation was also performed in private orchards located nearby of the Intitute’s experimental...

Data about the generation of empty pesticide containers (EPC) is scarce, even in countries where an EPC collection system is applied. In most cases, data refers to the total amount of EPC collected, which is lower than EPC generated depending on the extent of application of the collection project. Moreover, results are not correlated to the kind of...

An increasing demand for cherry production (Prunus avium L.) in Greece led to the development of new high quality sweet cherry cultivars. Self-incompatibility in cherry is one of the most challenging issues for the species' cultivation and top breeding priority. Τhe present study focuses on the development of new hybrids with improved traits such a...

Phenotyping evaluation of newly developed sweet cherry hybrids

Changes in phenology due to a changing environment are of interest because of their impact on fruit set, frost occurrence and final harvest. Bloom dates of sweet cherry cultivars 'Tragana Edessis' (from the local germplasm collection), 'B. Burlat', 'Larian' and 'Vogue' were examined taking climatic parameters in Naoussa (northern Greece, 40°N), spa...

Germoplasma di origine greca con interesse commerciale L a Grecia possiede un ricco ger-moplasma di ciliegio, la cui va-lidità commerciale è però spesso sottostimata dai produttori a favore del materiale vegetale proveniente dall'e-stero. La Rivista di Frutticoltura si è già interessata in passato della cerasilcol-tura greca (crf. 2015, 4:38-40) e...

Two major cherry species are grown for their fruit, the diploid sweet cherry and the tetraploid sour cherry. Cherries are characterized by high genetic diversity mainly due to their self-incompatibility propagation system. Estimation of the species phenological and genetic diversity has been performed using a number of different traits and marker s...

The phenotypic characterization of sour cherry cultivars provides important information on their attributes, which is of paramount importance for their breeding and germplasm management. This study examined the Hellenic Sour Cherry Genebank, which consists of 27 sour cherry cultivars, located in the Institute of Pomology Fruit Genebank, Naoussa, Gr...

This study presents an assessment of morpho-physiological diversity for one hundred and forty-six sweet cherry (Prunus avium) cultivars, originating from different countries and maintained in an ex situ GeneBank collection. Data of thirty-five traits, describing phenology, plant morphology, yield and fruit quality were recorded over three years and...

‘Tsolakeiko’ is a local Greek cherry cultivar. Productivity and mean fruit weight of ‘Tsolakeiko’ were significantly higher than ‘Bigarreau Burlat’ and ‘Tragana Edessis’. Total soluble solids of ‘Tsolakeiko’ was lower than ‘Tragana Edessis’ but wasn’t significantly different than ‘Bigarreau Burlat’. Fruit of ‘Tsolakeiko’ mature 5 days later than ‘B...

Μια “παρεξηγημένη” ποικιλία κάνει αίσθηση τα τελευταία χρόνια στις τάξεις των κερασοπαρα- γωγών και ακολουθεί μια αξιόλογη δυναμική φυτεύσεων, κυρίως στην περιοχή της Πέλλας, όπου εντοπίζεται ο κύριος όγκος της κερασο-καλλιέργειας στην Ελλάδα. Είναι η ποικιλία Τσολακέικο, η οποία παρουσιάζει κάποια επιθυμητά χαρακτηριστικά για την εγχώρια και ξένη...

Sweet cherries can be grafted on a wide range of rootstocks belonging to genus Prunus. Identification of sweet cherry rootstocks using morphological traits is almost impossible particularly during the dormant season, yet it is very important for the grower to know exactly the rootstock as this has a major influence on cultivar performance and agric...

Sweet cherry trees (Prunus avium L.) of the cultivars 'Vasiliadi' and 'Ferrovia' were grafted on wild cherry seedling rootstock (mazzard), trained as a typical vase shape and planted at distances 6x6 m apart. The evaluation was done for 5 consecutive years. Trees of 'Vasiliadi' are vigorous (more vigorous than 'Ferrovia'), with an upright growth ha...

The trees of the yellow sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars in the experimental orchard were, grafted on cherry seedling rootstock (Mazzard) and trained as a typical vase shape planted at distances 6 x 6 m apart. The studied cultivars showed a wide range of the following characteristics; beginning of harvest: 23 May till 15 June, productivity:...

It is important to couple phenotypic analysis with genetic diversity for germplasm conservation in gene bank collections. The use of molecular markers supports the study of genetic marker-trait associations of biological and agronomic interest on diverse genetic material. In this report, 19 Greek traditional sweet cherry cultivars and two internati...