Science Reveals the Surprising Origins of the Potato

There is more More than one hundred ways Prepare a potatoAnd thousands of stories have begun with a shot from this tuber. For centuries, potatoes play a vital role in feeding the world’s growing population. In one StudyThe introduction of potatoes from America was about a quarter of population growth in the old world between 1700 and 1900.

Now, science has revealed the surprise source of the vegetable: it was raised as a result of an abnormal hybridization between the ancestors of Tomato and an ancient South American plant 9 million years ago. This revelation rewrite the evolutionary history of one of the most widely consuming foods in the world, and also explains how a common tuber becomes the basis of the global diet.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have conducted the most wide genomic analysis of domestic potatoes today. They conducted unprecedented genetic sequencing and studied varieties cultivated with 44 wild species. The results reveal a stable mixture of genetic elements in the results Potato (Traditional Potato) and an ancestor Solanam Lycopers (Tomatoes)

Looking at the look that potatoes were derived from the process of hybridization between an ancient tomato plant and the other today Solanam-Theberosam is a species related to the family that does not produce tubers at that time. The results have been published in the journal CellThe

Both potatoes and tomatoes share a common ancestor that lived about 13 million years ago. Four million years later, their descendants were successfully interbert. A new plant was grown with the ability to form a tuber from this union: the subterranean rail structure that stores energy in the form of carbohydrates and allow breeding without the need for seeds or pollination. This biological innovation helped the expansion of the first potatoes in different climate -related areas, from warm to cold environment.

The study also identified the publishing of genetic details. In SP 6, the gene, considered “switch” which determines whether any plants will develop tendons, come from tomatoes. On the other hand, the IT 1 gene, which forms the consumption of the subway, controls the growth of the subway, comes from the plants of the local Ituberosam family in South America.

Researchers proposed a hypothesis about the source of potato, considering the chronology of hybridization and species involved. During the Mayocene, 10 to 6 million years ago, the sudden geological enthusiasm of Andes powered by two tectonic plates created a new cold climate region. Scientists believe that this geological change has forced plants to survive and expand, two of them joined the formation together PotatoWhich will end in the form of French fries with your hamburger several million years later.

This story was originally attended Wired In Spanish And have been translated from Spanish.