Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on where potatoes came from

The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Did you know that the humble potato owes its very existence, and its global success as a food staple to an ancient genetic mash-up?

A recent study in the journal Cell of over 100 wild and cultivated potato genomes has revealed a fascinating secret about the potato family tree.

The beloved spud and its 107 wild relatives all belong to a plant group called Petota. What sets Petota apart is its ability to grow underground tubers, the very organs we eat.

But where did this tuber-making trait come from?

Turns out, millions of years ago, two very different wild plant lineages, one similar to tomatoes and another that doesn’t make tubers at all crossed paths.

Somewhere in the high mountains of South America, their genetic material combined through hybridization, creating a brand-new lineage: Petota. This ancient hybrid inherited just the right mix of genes to develop tubers, enabling these plants to store nutrients underground and survive tough climates.

Scientists now believe that this innovative tuber-forming ability helped Petota rapidly diversify into over 100 species, adapting to everything from dry tropical forests to cold, high-altitude meadows. In fact, this ancient hybrid lineage shows faster species evolution than its parent lineages, highlighting how powerful hybridization can be in driving plant diversity.

Even more impressive? The very genes responsible for making tubers like SP6A and IT1 were inherited from each parent in a sort of genetic collaboration. Modern genetic experiments show these hybrid genes are essential for tuber development and are still active in today's potatoes.

So, next time you mash, bake, or roast a potato, remember it’s not just a vegetable. It’s the product of an ancient botanical tomato love story that changed the course of agricultural history.

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