Vol. 5, Issue 1, Part A (2023)

European plum (Prunus domestica L.) is one of the most important temperate fruit crops. Its origin is unclear as wild forms are missing. The genetic base which can be used for breeding is highly diverse and provides a good base for further improvement of the fruit crop. Information on the inheritance of single traits is rarely available. Breeding focuses on resistance and fruit quality. Classical breeding is the most important method applied. Very few data is available on the genome sequence. No marker assisted selection systems are available. Genetic engineering is limited to the transformation of embryonic tissue derived from seeds. Prunus domestica is the only Prunus species where genotypes completely resistant to the Plum pox virus exist. Plums are by far the most diverse of all the Prunus species and could be the most diverse of all deciduous fruit crop species. The fruit constitutes an important source of minerals, vitamins, sugars, and organic acid in addition to protein, fat, and carbohydrate. Native species of plums exist in nearly every temperate zone in the world where there is sufficient chilling to break dormancy. With diverse genetic material, plums are the ideal species to play a central role as a fresh fruit for local or regional markets. Adapted cultivars have wider adaptability and can be found or bred for in any temperate region of the world. The results agree with P. domestica having originated as an interspecific hybrid of a diploid P. cerasifera and a tetraploid P. spinosa that itself may have been an interspecific hybrid of P. cerasifera and an unknown Eurasian plum species. The low genetic diversity and lack of true wild-types coupled with the known cultivation history of Eurasian plums imply that P. domestica may have been a product of inter-specific cross breeding and artificial selection by early agrarian Eurasian societies.