Elucidation of the evolution and taxonomy of cultivated potatoes with electrophoresis : I. Groups tuberosum, andigena, phureja and stenotomum.

A recently developed polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis technique for tuber proteins is used to help elucidate the evolution and taxonomy of some cultivated potatoes. The results substantiate the theory that Group Tuberosum evolved from Group Andigena, that Group Andigena evolved from a cultivated diploid × wild diploid hybrid, and that Group Phureja evolved from Group Stenotomum. Furthermore, the results suggest these groups are closely enough related to merit classification within a single species.