The main research objectives of the lab of Subtropical plants & Tissue culture are: • Ex situ conservation and enriching the national collections of the subtropical crops: avocado, prickly pear, loquat, mango, carob, banana, cherimoya, pecan, date palm, feijoa, guava, carambola, macadamia, litchi. • Evaluation and study of subtropical crop varieties, referring to physiology and adaptation to new climate data. • Production and evaluation of new varieties and rootstocks, aiming at early season production, fruit quality and resistant to biotic and abiotic stress. • Conservation and production of healthy genetic material. • Study and applying of conventional propagation techniques on subtropical and tropical species like seedlings, grafting etc. • Study and applying of in vitro technique for plant propagation. • Study and evaluation of pioneer compounds for their use in subtropical crops, in terms of yield and fruit quality and yield.
• New cultivation techniques were applied and evaluated on plantation systems, plant size and structure, pruning and fruit thinning for the fruit quality improvement of the plants Avocado, Banana, Mango, Cherimoya, Pecan, Feijoa, Loquat and Prickly pear. • Improvement of the propagation technique of Avocado (grafting, tissue culture), Cherimoya (rooting cuttings, tissue culture) and Banana - Rubus (by tissue culture) was achieved. • Genetic material of Avocado and Banana was produced and distributed to farmers in the framework of development programs of the Ministry of Agriculture. • Certified genetic material of various tropical and subtropical fruit crops was imported, from research Institutes of other counties, and the possibility of their successful cultivation in Greece was studied. Evaluation and selection of the most important cultivars of Avocado, Banana, Mango, Cherimoya, Pecan, Feijoa, Date Palm, Loquat and Prickly pear, for commercial cultivation was carried out.
Previous research projects • Ex situ conservation and protection of Greek native species Capparis ovata L. and Hypericum perforatum L”. Hellenic Agricultural Organization – “DEMETER”, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Recourses, 2014 – 2015. • "Mediterranean Selected Fruits Inter-country Network". (MESFIN). - E.E. • CACTUS PEAR, 18 countries, for prickly pear and other cactus species. • PECAN subtropical crop, 13 countries. • ICUC (International Centre for Underutilized Crops), 12 European countries for the cultivation of minor fruit crops. • “Hellenic Network for Biodiversity Research (HelBioNet)”, ESFRI – European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructure. • "Quality enhancement of plant production through tissue culture". COST843 - Ε.E. • "Productive Development of Drought Tolerant Species for Arid and Semi-arid Zones". FONDEF. - Ε.Ε.
• New farming opportunities on island regions – Ex situ conservation and protection of Greek native species Capparis ovata L. and Hypericum perforatum L. 2015. Sifnos, Syros, Amorgos, Cephalonia.
• Tzatzani T-T, Kavroulakis N, Doupis G, Psaras G, Papadakis I, 2019. Nutritional status of "Hass" and "Fuerte" avocado (Persea americana Mill.) plants subjected to high soil moisturs. Journal of Plant Nutrition. in press • Tzatzani T-T, Dimassi K, Therios I, 2018. Organogenesis of Citrus rootstocks using mature explants. Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. 7: 10-15. • Tzatzani T-T, Yupsanis T, Dimassi K, Therios I, 2015. Usage of DNases and NDP kinases as molecular markers of the developmental embryo stage of Poncirus trifoliata L. and Citrus aurantium L. rootstocks. Brazilian Journal of Botany. 38: 469-477. • Tzatzani T-T, Dimassi K, Yupsanis T, Bosabalidis A, Therios I, Sarropoulou V, 2013. Globular body production, their anatomy, DNase gel analysis and NDP kinase activity in root tips of Poncirus trifoliata L. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.71: 247-253. • Tzatzani T-T, Dimassi-Theriou K, Therios I, Molassiotis A, 2009. The effect of BA, GA3 and IBΑ on in vitro organogenesis of Poncirus trifoliata starting from globular bodies Proceedings of the 1st Balkan Symp. on Fruit Growing Eds.: A. Zhivondov et al. Acta Horticulturae 825: 289-292. • Tzatzani T-T, Dimassi-Theriou K, Therios I, 2007. Organogenesis from root segments of Citrus rootstocks treated with BA and α-NAA. Fifth International Conference “Propagation of Ornamental Plants”, Bulgaria, 2007. • Lionakis, S. M. and Loxou, B. K. 1996. Behaviour of some Mango cultivars in the greenhouse, under net and outdoors in the area of Chania Crete. Acta Horiculturae, 455, 401-406. • Vekiari, S. and Lionakis, S. M. 1988. Fruit quality characteristics of some Avocado cultivars in Greece. Proceedings of 2nd International meeting on Mediterranean tree crops. Chania 2-4 November 1988. Tzatzani Thiresia-Teresa Graduate studies: Postgraduate studies: 2011, PhD, Pomology - Physiology, Thesis title: Factors affecting in vitro organogenesis in three citrus rootstocks, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. 2015, Postdoc, Ex situ conservation and protection of Greek native species Capparis ovata L. and Hypericum perforatum L”. Hellenic Agricultural Organization “DEMETER”, Institute of Plant Breeding & Genetic Recourses. Research interests: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thiresia_Teresa_Tzatzani2
Researcher Head of the Laboratory e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: 28210-83430 Tel: 28210-83447 · Tzatzani T-T, Kavroulakis N, Doupis G, Psaras G, Papadakis I, 2019. Nutritional status of ‘Hass’ and ‘Fuerte’ avocado (Persea americana Mill.) plants subjected to high soil moisture. Journal of Plant Nutrition. In press |