Decryption – Scientists have established a link between wild species and the tomato, lightening the origin of the tuber, which was so far unknown.
It was a void in the agricultural sciences: how was the potato born, this tuber consumed for 8000 years in South America and brought back to Europe by the conquistadors? Today, the veil is finally rising. Genomic and functional analyzes conducted by an international research team reveal that the potato line comes from natural hybridization between tomato plants and wilderness species from South America, which gave birth to the current potato that we know.
“We have finally resolved the mystery of the origin of the potatoes”welcomes Sanwen Huang, principal author of the study published in the journal Cell and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “Our results show how hybridization can trigger the evolution of new characters, opening the way to the rapid diversification of species. »» It is partly their membership …
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