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Science 13 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5882, p. 1464
DOI: 10.1126/science.1153600
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Brevia

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.

1 Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center, Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
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.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)