Evolutionary origins of the potato revealed - and a tomato was involved
By Will Dunham
Summary
Natural hybridization event occurred 9 million years ago
Interbreeding involved tomato and a potato-like species
Study analyzed genomes from cultivated and wild potatoes
WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The potato is one of the world's food staples, first cultivated thousands of years ago in the Andes region
of South America before spreading globally from the 16th century. But
despite its importance to humankind, the evolutionary origins of the
potato have remained puzzling - until now.
A
new analysis of 450 genomes from cultivated potatoes and 56 genomes of
wild potato species has revealed that the potato lineage originated
through natural interbreeding between a wild tomato plant and a potato-like species in South America about 9 million years ago.
Potatoes evolved from tomatoes and another South American plant 9 million years ago, study finds
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