Reexamination of series relationships of South American wild potatoes (Solanaceae: Solanum sect. Petota): evidence from chloroplast DNA restriction site variation.

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction enzyme site analysis was used to test hypotheses of series and superseries affiliations of 76 taxa, representing 11 of the 13 South American series (material unavailable for two series) of wild potatoes (Solanum sect. Petota) recognized in the latest classification by Hawkes. The cladistic results, combined with those from earlier cpDNA studies of 30 taxa of the Mexican and Central American species (representing eight series; ser. Conicibaccata and ser. Tuberosa have representatives in Mexico and in South America), support four main clades for 17 of the 19 series examined in sect. Petota: (1) the Mexican and Central American diploid species, exclusive of S. bulbocastanum, S. cardiophyllum, and S. verrucosum, (2) S. bulbocastanum and S. cardiophyllum (ser. Bulbocastana, ser. Pinnatisecta), (3) South American diploid species constituting all of ser. Piurana, but also members of ser. Conicibaccata, ser. Megistacroloba, ser. Tuberosa, and ser. Yungasensia, (4) all Mexican and Central American polyploid species (ser. Longipedicellata, ser. Demissa), S. verrucosum (diploid Mexican species in ser. Tuberosa), and South American diploid and polyploid members of ser. Acaulia, ser. Circaeifolia, ser. Commersoniana, ser. Conicibaccata, ser. Cuneoalata, ser. Lignicaulia, ser. Maglia, ser. Megistacroloba, ser. Tuberosa, and ser. Yungasensia. Each of these clades contains morphologically and reproductively very diverse species, and there are no evident morphological features that unite members within a clade to therefore distinguish them. These results strongly suggest a need for a reevaluation of the series and superseries classifications of sect. Petota.