Overview

• A Cell paper dated July 31 shows that modern potatoes emerged nearly nine million years ago from natural hybridization between ancestral tomato and tuberless Etuberosum lineages.
• Analysis of more than 450 cultivated and 56 wild potato genomes reveals a balanced mosaic of genetic contributions, including the tuber-initiating SP6A gene from tomato and the stem-growth IT1 gene from Etuberosum.
• This ancient cross coincided with the rapid uplift of the Andes Mountains, enabling early potato ancestors to survive harsh highland climates through underground nutrient storage and asexual reproduction.
• Around 20,000 years ago, Indigenous Andean communities domesticated wild potato species, and 16th-century Spanish introduction facilitated their spread into Europe and eventual global adoption.
• Researchers now aim to harness wild gene pools by reintroducing ancestral alleles into cultivated varieties to expand genetic diversity and strengthen climate resilience in potato breeding programs.