Data from: Crop-to-wild gene flow and spatial genetic structure in the closest wild relatives of the cultivated apple

Crop-to-wild gene flow have important evolutionary and ecological consequences and require careful consideration in conservation programs for wild genetic resources of potential use in breeding programs and in assessments of the risk of transgene escape into natural ecosystems. Using 26 microsatellites and a set of 1181 trees, we investigated the extent of introgression from the cultivated apple, Malus domestica, to its three closest wild relatives, M. sylvestris in Europe, M. orientalis in the Caucasus and M. sieversii in Central Asia. We found footprints of introgression from M. domestica to M. orientalis (3.2% of hybrids), M. sieversii (14.8%) and M. sylvestris (36.7%). Malus sieversii and M. orientalis presented weak but significant genetic structures across their geographic range. Malus orientalis displayed genetic differentiation with three differentiated populations in Turkey, Armenia and Russia. Malus sieversii consisted of a main population spread over Central Asia and a smaller population in the Tian Shan Mountains. The low Sp values suggest high dispersal capacities for the wild apple relatives. High potential for crop-to-wild gene flow in apples needs to be considered in the implementation of in situ and ex situ actions for the conservation of wild apple genetic resources potentially useful to plant breeding.dom_ref_orientalis_26SSR_structureThere are three files that we used for STRUCTURE analyses with the 26SSR markers that allowed us to detect hybrids and to do the following intra-species TESS analyses. Each file include wild species individuals and 40 M. domestica reference (last 40 individuals in each input file): (1) dom_ref_orientalis_26SSR_structure: the M. orientalis samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (2) dom_ref_sieversii_26SSR_structure: the M. sieversii samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (3) dom_ref_sylvestris_26SSR_structure: the M.sylvestris samples followed by the 40 M. domestica referencedom_ref_sieversii_26SSR_structureThere are three files that we used for STRUCTURE analyses with the 26SSR markers that allowed us to detect hybrids and to do the following intra-species TESS analyses. Each file include wild species individuals and 40 M. domestica reference (last 40 individuals in each input file): (1) dom_ref_orientalis_26SSR_structure: the M. orientalis samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (2) dom_ref_sieversii_26SSR_structure: the M. sieversii samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (3) dom_ref_sylvestris_26SSR_structure: the M.sylvestris samples followed by the 40 M. domestica referencedom_ref_sylvestris_26SSR_structureThere are three files that we used for STRUCTURE analyses with the 26SSR markers that allowed us to detect hybrids and to do the following intra-species TESS analyses. Each file include wild species individuals and 40 M. domestica reference (last 40 individuals in each input file): (1) dom_ref_orientalis_26SSR_structure: the M. orientalis samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (2) dom_ref_sieversii_26SSR_structure: the M. sieversii samples followed by the 40 M. domestica reference (3) dom_ref_sylvestris_26SSR_structure: the M.sylvestris samples followed by the 40 M. domestica referenc