Potato Origins Linked to Tomatoes
Vocab level: C1
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Did you know the potatoes origins began with tomatoes?
This inner species love story occurred about 9 million years ago.
According to research published in the Journal of Cell,
the humble potato is the result of an ancient genetic mashup between a wild tomato and a tuberous plant called etuberosum in South America.
And it was only when those two are together that you get this tuber creation.
This surprise hybrid inherited the perfect combo.
A gene from the tomato that tells it when to make tubers, a plant part that stores nutrients,
and one from etuberosum that tells it how.
The result, a brand new plant that could grow underground food,
survive cold climates, and reproduce without seeds.
Perfect for life in the Andes Mountains, where potatoes were first domesticated some 7 to 10,000 years ago.
That evolutionary jackpot led to the more than 100 wild potato species that we know today,
and eventually to the fries on your plate with a side of tomato DNA.
Everybody says, "Well, potatoes and tomatoes have nothing to do with one another."
But actually, if you look at the plants themselves,
you can see... start to see lots and lots of similarities.
Now we know why potatoes and tomatoes go so well together.
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