Biodiversity of apple trees: origin, domestication, threats - an overview from genetics and field experiments

The apple we eat today results from a complex history of interactions between cultivated apple trees and their wild ancestors distributed across Eurasia. This relatively recent history, dating back 10-5,000 years, has been reconstructed using genetic markers. Human activities currently threaten these wild apple relative species. Conservation programs are ongoing to protect their diversity in living orchards, which also serve as research grounds to understand how fruit trees respond to climate change and the emergence of new pests.