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Diversity of the European indigenous wild apple Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. in the East Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge), Germany: I. Morphological characterization

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Abstract

Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. is the only indigenous wild apple species in Europe and recognized as rare and endangered species. An important prerequisite for the preservation of M. sylvestris is the identification of ‘true type’ M. sylvestris individuals because hybrids with cultivated apple could be also occurred. In this study variations among 625 putative M. sylvestris trees originated in the East Ore Mountains were evaluated with 20 selected morphological traits. The importance of these traits concerning the differentiation of ‘true type’ and hybrids of M. sylvestris were determined by statistical analysis. The results demonstrated a strong correlation of individual traits and those contributing mostly to variation of M. sylvestris were detected by the Principal Component Analysis. The relationship of 284 M. sylvestris, 18 M. × domestica, M. floribunda 821 and M. robusta 5 individuals were calculated based on the morphological data and presented in a dendrogram. The individuals grouped in two main clusters and 68 hybrids of M. sylvestris were identified. The main result of the morphological data of these hybrids indicates that the grouping is mainly based on the flower and leaf pubescence and less on the fruit size.

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Abbreviations

PCA:

Principal component analysis

ECPGR:

European cooperative program for plant genetic resources

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Acknowledgments

This research project was financial supported by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food for (06BM 002/2). We thank very much all volunteers from the Green League East Ore Mountains e.V. for their extensive work on the Malus sylvestris trees in the East Ore Mountains. We also thank Claudia Wiedow for her helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Julius Kühn-Institute, Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural and Fruit Crops, Pillnitzer Platz 3a, 01326, Dresden, Germany

    Stefanie Reim & Monika Höfer

  2. Green League Osterzgebirge e.V., Große Wassergasse 19, 01744, Dippoldiswalde, Germany

    Anke Proft & Simone Heinz

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  1. Stefanie Reim
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  2. Anke Proft
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  3. Simone Heinz
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  4. Monika Höfer
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Correspondence to Monika Höfer.

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Reim, S., Proft, A., Heinz, S. et al. Diversity of the European indigenous wild apple Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. in the East Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge), Germany: I. Morphological characterization. Genet Resour Crop Evol 59, 1101–1114 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9746-x

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