Genetic Diversity of Wild Apples and Pears in the Forest Park of Starčevica, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The increasing fragmentation and degradation of forest habitats and the hybridization with cultivated varieties potentially threaten the genetic integrity of wild apple (Malus sylvestris /L./ Mill) and wild pear (Pyrus communis L.). Wild apple and wild pear have been included in the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme – EUFORGEN priority lists for development of conservation strategies. Researches are required into the genetic diversity and the structure of local populations to determine the most suitable conservation policies for these species at different scales. In this study, the RAPD markers were used in order to evaluate interspecies genetic similarity of wild apple trees and wild pear trees from the Starcevica Forest Park, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Primers OPA-05, OPA-07, OPA-09, OPA- 10, OPG-03, OPG-11, OPG-12, OPG-13 and OPAC-03 were used to analyse genetic similarity of wild apple trees, while OPA-01, OPA-03, OPA-05, OPA-07, OPA-08, OPD-04, OPD-14, OPG-03 and OPG-06 were used to analyse genetic similarity of wild pear trees. There was a high level of polymorphism among the analysed wild apple trees, as well as among the wild pear trees, demonstrating a considerable richness in terms of wild apple and wild pear genetic resources in the Starcevica Forest Park. The significant genetic diversity of wild apples and wild pears is present between different test polygones, while when it comes to diversity within the test polygons, it can be concluded that very similar genotypes of wild apples and wild pears generally prevail within a polygon.