Verification of wild apple (Malus sylvestris) nursery stock sold in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Abstract. Societal Impact Statement. Crop wild relatives are plant taxa that are the progenitors of commercial crops and are an important genetic resource for improving these crops and making them more resilient in the face of environmental change. They play an important role for food security and it is vital to maintain their natural genetic diversity. However, crop-to-wild gene flow may reduce the fitness and threaten the genetic integrity of the wild species in the long run. Here we investigate the genetic purity of European wild apple (Malus sylvestris), a rare tree species in Europe that frequently hybridises with domesticated apple (M. domestica), sold by UK nurseries.