Now, science reveals the surprising origins of the vegetables: 9 million years ago emerged following an unusual hybridization between an ancestor of the tomato and an ancient South American plant. This revelation rewrites the evolutionary history of one of the most consumed foods in the world and also explains how a simple tuber has become a pillar of the global diet.
The researchers of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have led the wider genomic analysis to date on the home potato. They studied varieties grown together with 44 wild species, leading unprecedented genetic sequencing. The results revealed a stable mixture of genetic material between Solanum tuberosum (the traditional potato) and an ancestor of Solanum Lycopersicum (the tomato).
The discovery suggests that potatoes as we know them today were born from a hybridization process between an ancient tomato plant and more Solanum-Lsigni related by the Etuberosum family which, until then, did not produce tubers. The results were published in the magazine Cell.
Both the potato and the tomato share a common ancestor who lived about 13 million years ago. Four million years later, their descendants have successfully crossed. From this union a new plant has emerged with the ability to form tubers: metro structures that store energy in the form of carbohydrates and allow reproduction without the need for seeds or pollination. This biological innovation has facilitated the expansion of the first potatoes in regions with different climates, from hot environments to cold.
The study also identified the revealing genetic details. The SP6A gene, considered the “Switch” which determines if a plant develops tubers, comes from tomato. On the other hand, the IT1 gene, which regulates the growth of the subway stems that form the edible tuber, comes from the plants of the Etuberosum family, originally from South America.
Considering the chronology of hybridization and the geolocation of the species involved, the researchers proposed a hypothesis on the origin of the potato. During the Miocene, between 10 and 6 million years ago, the abrupt geological lifting of the Andes, led by the collision of two busty plaques, generated new cold climatic regions. Scientists believe that this geological change has forced the plants to adapt to survive and expand, with two of them that come together to form Solanum tuberosumThat millions of years later they would end up accompanying your hamburger in the form of french fries.
This story originally appeared on Wired en espaƱol And it was translated by the Spaniard.