Germination, Genetics, and Growth of an Ancient Date Seed
Sarah Sallon,1
Elaine Solowey,2
Yuval Cohen,3
Raia Korchinsky,3
Markus Egli,4
Ivan Woodhatch,4
Orit Simchoni,5
Mordechai Kislev5
An ancient date seed (Phoenix dactylifera L.) excavated from
Masada and radiocarbon-dated to the first century Common Era
was germinated. Climatic conditions at the Dead Sea may have
contributed to the longevity of this oldest, directly dated,
viable seed. Growth and development of the seedling over 26
months was compatible with normal date seedlings propagated
from modern seeds. Preliminary molecular characterization demonstrated
high levels of genetic variation in comparison to modern, elite
date cultivars currently growing in Israel. As a representative
of an extinct date palm population, this seedling can provide
insights into the historic date culture of the Dead Sea region.
It also has importance for seed banking and conservation and
may be of relevance to modern date palm cultivation.
2 Arava Institute of the Environment, Kibbutz Ketura 88840, Israel.
3 Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Research Center 50250, Israel.
4 Radio-Carbon Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
5 Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
