Tag Archive for 'Solanum'

Interspecific hybridization may trigger species radiation by creating allele combinations and traits. Cultivated potato and its 107 wild relatives from the Petota lineage all share the distinctive trait of underground tubers, but the underlying mechanisms for tuberization and its relationship to extensive species diversification remain unclear. Through analyses of 128 genomes, including 88 haplotype-resolved genomes, Zhang et al. revealed that Petota is of ancient hybrid origin, with all members exhibiting stable mixed genomic ancestry, derived from the Etuberosum and Tomato lineages ca. 8-9 million years ago. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.034.

Potato Evolved from Tomato Plants 8-9 Million Years Ago, New Research Suggests

Aug 5, 2025 by News Staff

Interbreeding between tomato plants and potato-like species from South America about 8-9 million years ago gave rise to the modern-day potato (Solanum...

The function of CLV3 in Arabidopsis and tomato is conserved despite extreme divergence in cis-regulatory sequences. Image credit: Ciren et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011174.

Plant Scientists Shed Light on 125-Million-Year-Old Genetic Mystery

Mar 5, 2024 by News Staff

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered that two distantly related model plants, Arabidopsis thaliana and the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum),...

Kwon et al. offer valuable insights into the potential utilization of tomatoes as a natural antimicrobial food source for the promotion of public health; given their widespread popularity and cost effectiveness, tomatoes possess considerable potential as alternative antimicrobial agents within lifestyle interventions. Image credit: Catalin Stefan.

Tomato Juice Shows Antimicrobial Activity against Enteric Pathogens

Jan 30, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Tomatoes are readily available and affordable vegetables that offer a range of health benefits due to their bioactive molecules, such as antioxidants and...

Solanum scalarium. Image credit: T.M. Williams.

New Species of Bush Tomato Discovered in Australia

Dec 29, 2022 by News Staff

The newly-discovered species belongs to Solanum, a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Solanum scalarium....

The genomic features of the genome of the autotetraploid potato (Solanum tuberosum): (a) gene density (number of genes per Mb; red) and percentage of TE-related sequence (yellow) within 2-Mb windows along the four haplotypes of each of the 12 chromosomes (Chr. 1-12); (b) landscapes of methylation in CG (purple), CHG (blue), CHH (gray) context within 2-Mb windows; the links in the center show >600 structural rearrangements >100 kb found between the four haplotypes of each chromosome; light blue and red boxes refer to the maternally and paternally inherited chromosomes. Image credit: Sun et al., doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01015-0.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Tetraploid Potato Cultivar

Mar 9, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and elsewhere have decoded the genome of the potato cultivar ‘Otava.’ Their results...

Solanum pimpinellifolium in Botanisk tidsskrift, 1872.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Tomato’s Wild Ancestor

Dec 2, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists at Boyce Thompson Institute have produced a high-quality chromosome-scale genome sequence for the currant tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium, the...

Gao et al present a tomato pan-genome constructed using genome sequences of 725 phylogenetically and geographically representative accessions, revealing 4,873 genes absent from the reference genome. Image credit: Hans Braxmeier.

Scientists Assemble Pan-Genome of Cultivated Tomato and Its Wild Relatives

May 14, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and the U.S. Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service...

Dr. Louderback stands behind large stone metates, the grindstones on which ancient Native Americans processed their food. Image credit: University of Utah.

Researchers Discover Earliest Evidence of Wild Potato Use in North America

Jul 3, 2017 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists and anthropologists, led by the University of Utah, has discovered potato starch residues in the crevices of a 10,900-year-old...