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A morphological study of species boundaries of the wild potato Solanum brevicaule complex: replicated field trials in Peru

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Abstract

The Solanum brevicaule complex contains about 20 species of diploids (2n = 2x = 24), tetraploids (2n = 4x = 48) and hexaploids (2n = 6x = 72), distributed from central Peru south to northwestern Argentina. The complex is defined entirely by morphological similarity of its constituent members, which are very similar to each other and to some landraces of the cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum. Conflicting taxonomic treatments are common among authors. Species boundaries within the complex have been studied with morphological phenetics from germplasm accessions planted in a field plot in the north central US, and with molecular marker data from RAPDs, low-copy nuclear RFLPs, and AFLPs. The present study compares these results with an additional replicated morphological study of the same germplasm accessions in a greenhouse environment in the high Andes of central Peru. The results support extensive reduction of species in the complex.

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Acknowledgments

This paper represents a portion of a M.S. Thesis submitted to the Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We thank thesis committee members Shelley H. Jansky and Kenneth J. Sytsma for review; the staffs of the US Potato Genebank and the International Potato Center (CIP) for germplasm; and CIP for greenhouse facilities in Peru. This research was supported by NSF DEB 0316614 to David Spooner entitled “PBI Solanum: a worldwide treatment” (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/solanaceaesource//) and by the US Foreign Agricultural Service to David Spooner entitled “Morphological characterization of the S. brevicaule complex and cultivated potato species.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vegetable Crops Research Unit, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin, 1575 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706-1590, USA

    N. M. B. Alvarez & D. M. Spooner

  2. Department of Agronomy, National University of Cuyo, Almirante Brown 500, 5505, Chacras de Coria, Luján, Mendoza, Argentina

    I. E. Peralta

  3. IADIZA-CONICET, C.C. 507, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina

    I. E. Peralta

  4. International Potato Center, Apartado, 1558, Lima, Peru

    A. Salas

Authors
  1. N. M. B. Alvarez
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  2. I. E. Peralta
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  3. A. Salas
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  4. D. M. Spooner
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Correspondence to D. M. Spooner.

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Alvarez, N.M.B., Peralta, I.E., Salas, A. et al. A morphological study of species boundaries of the wild potato Solanum brevicaule complex: replicated field trials in Peru. Plant Syst Evol 274, 37–45 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-008-0023-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-008-0023-1

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