US EditionScientists Just Solved the 9-Million-Year Mystery of Where Potatoes Came From
SOUTH AMERICA, AUG 1 – The hybridization between tomato and Etuberosum species about 9 million years ago enabled potatoes to develop tubers, aiding nutrient storage and adaptation to diverse environments.
- An international research team discovered that modern potatoes originated about nine million years ago from ancient hybridization between tomato plants and potato-like Etuberosum species in South America.
- Scientists analyzed the DNA of 450 cultivated potatoes and 56 wild species to reveal that potatoes contain balanced genetic material from both tomatoes and Etuberosum, overturning previous beliefs they descended solely from Etuberosum.
- The hybrid plants evolved tubers, storage organs for nutrients allowing survival in harsh mountainous environments, fueling rapid species diversification and adaptation across diverse ecological niches in Central and South America.
- Genome biologist Sanwen Huang highlighted that tomatoes provided the crucial gene responsible for initiating tuber development in potatoes, while Etuberosum contributed a gene regulating tuber growth, together enabling the formation of tubers in early potato plants.
- This research not only solves the potato's evolutionary mystery but suggests new breeding opportunities to create more resilient, productive potato varieties better adapted to changing environments.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Potatoes are one of the world's most widely cultivated foods. At the same time, their origins have long been shrouded in mystery. But now a Chinese research team believes they have solved the mystery of how the modern potato came into being.
Scientists Discover Potato Evolved from Ancient Tomato
Scientists trace the Potato’s Origins to the Tomato, uncovering a 9-million-year link. Credit: Santeri Viinamäki / CC BY-SA 4.0 Scientists have uncovered a surprising family connection between two foods that seem worlds apart, tracing the Potato’s origins to the Tomato in a new study. A study published Thursday in the journal Cell reveals that both share an ancestor dating back about 9 million years. The finding solves a mystery that has puzzled…
'The Tomato Is the Mother of the Potato'
"Next time you eat potatoes, thank a tomato," says genome biologist Sanwen Huang. A new study published in Cell has upended what scientists thought they knew about the potato: It turns out potatoes evolved from tomatoes. Huang and his team says the modern potato likely appeared about 9 million years...
Scientists just solved the 9-million-year mystery of where potatoes came from
About 9 million years ago, a wild interspecies fling between tomato-like plants and potato relatives in South America gave rise to one of the world’s most important crops: the potato. Scientists have now traced its roots to a rare natural hybridization that created the tuber, a storage organ that allowed the plant to survive harsh Andean environments and spread rapidly.
Why when we drink ice cream or cold drinks we get the feeling that our brain hurts (and how to avoid it)Having a smartphone before age 13 compromises mental health, according to a studyThe natural crossing about 9 million years ago between a tomato ancestor and a potato-like wild plant gave rise to the modern potato, according to a study published in the magazine Cell and leading scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
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