Data from: New insights into the history of domesticated and wild apricot and its contribution to Plum pox virus resistance

Studying domesticated species and their wild relatives allows understanding the mechanisms of population divergence and adaptation and identifying valuable genetic resources. Apricot is an important fruit in the Northern hemisphere, where it is threatened by the Plum pox virus, causing the sharka disease. The histories of apricot domestication and of its resistance to sharka are however still poorly understood. We used eighteen microsatellite markers to genotype a collection of 230 wild trees from Central Asia and 142 cultivated apricots representatives of the worldwide cultivated apricot germplasm; we also performed experimental PPV inoculation tests. The genetic markers revealed highest levels of diversity in Central Asian and Chinese wild and cultivated apricots, confirming an origin in this region. In cultivated apricots, Chinese accessions were differentiated from more western accessions, while cultivated apricots were differentiated from wild apricots. An approximate Bayesian approach indicated that apricots likely underwent two independent domestication events, with bottlenecks, from the same wild population. Central Asian native apricots exhibited genetic subdivision and high frequency of resistance to sharka. Altogether, our results contribute to the understanding of the domestication history of cultivated apricot and point to valuable genetic diversity in the extant genetic resources of wild apricots.

对驯化物种及其野生近缘种开展研究，有助于解析种群分化与适应的机制，并发掘具有重要价值的遗传资源。杏是北半球的重要果树，却正遭受李痘病毒（Plum pox virus）的侵染，引发沙克病（sharka disease）。然而，目前学界对杏的驯化历史及其对沙克病的抗性机制仍知之甚少。本研究采用18个微卫星标记（microsatellite markers），对采自中亚的230份野生杏树样本以及代表全球栽培杏种质资源的142份栽培杏种质进行基因分型；同时开展了PPV接种实验。遗传标记分析显示，中亚及中国的野生杏与栽培杏群体具有最高的遗传多样性，这证实了杏起源于该区域。在栽培杏群体中，中国种质与更西部的种质存在显著遗传分化；同时，栽培杏与野生杏之间也存在明显遗传分化。通过近似贝叶斯方法分析发现，杏很可能从同一野生祖先群体经历了两次独立的驯化事件，且两次事件均伴随种群瓶颈效应。中亚原生野生杏群体存在遗传亚结构，且对沙克病的抗性频率较高。综上，本研究结果有助于深化对栽培杏驯化历史的认知，并指明野生杏现存遗传资源中蕴含的宝贵遗传多样性。