Mar. 7, 2013 An international team of scientists headed by
Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR, has discovered a
genetic mechanism which allows potato plants to develop tubers
during the long days of spring and summer in northern latitudes.
Wild potatoes, which originate in the Andes of South America,
were brought to Europe by Spanish sailors in the late 16th
century. Naturally occurring near the Equator, Andean potatoes
develop tubers on days which are relatively shorter than those
in high latitude summer. Newly discovered mutations in a single
potato gene are likely to have contributed to the widespread
success of the potato, which is the third most important food
crop in the world today. Although the potato was probably
domesticated as long as 10,000 years ago, the distribution of
this crop plant was initially restricted to farming communities
in what are today Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Only after the
Spanish conquest was the potato imported to Europe. Since the
European growing season of spring an