A new scientific study published in the Cell Inspection sheds light on the origin of the potato, revealing that the intersection between tomato and species beggar It is responsible for the birth of modern potato.

Potato is one of the most important agricultural products in the world and its ancestry has worried scientists for decades. An international team of researchers managed to shed light on this biological mystery.

Study’s key author, Ziyang Zhang, of Senzen’s Agricultural Institute of Genomics, emphasized the difficulty of collecting such samples, characterizing this collection. ‘The most complete that has ever been analyzed’.

Potato’s gene trails

According to research, modern potatoes, both cultivated and wild, have a 60% generation from the family Etuberosum of Chile – which included three species of plants similar to today’s potato, but without the edible place, the tuber. The remaining 40% of the gene composition is drawn from tomato.

As Sandra NAP said, herbalist at the Museum of Natural History of Great Britain, “This clearly shows us that it is probably an ancient hybrid and (the potato) did not come from later genetic mutations”.

Professor Lauren Rayberg from the University of British Colombia underlines the importance of the study, noting that it is ‘Deep change’ for the biology of evolution. While prevailing theory wanted mutations as a basic mechanism of creating new species, he stresses: “Today we agree that we have underestimated the role of hybridization”.

The key features of modern potato

Research has also shown that the gene associated with the creation of the tuber comes from the tomato. However, its function is only feasible in combination with gene from the plant Etuberosumwhich makes it possible to grow underground potato.

Another critical feature of potato is the ability to reproductionthat is, reproduction without seeds or pollination. This property contributed to the rapid spread of potato first in South America and then to the whole world, where it was spread through human intervention.

In the context of developments, Professor Sanaen Huang of the Senzen Gestomics Institute said his workshop was developing a new potato hybrid that could be reproduced through seeds. Such an innovation, as he points out, could significantly contribute to accelerating and improving potato cultivation internationally.