Crossability relationships between the common potato, Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum, and its wild diploid relatives S. kurtzianum and S. ruiz-lealii

The common potato, Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum (tbr), is a tetraploid species with a narrow genetic base, but with a large number of related species that harbor great genetic diversity for numerous characters of agronomic interest. S. kurtzianum (ktz) and S. ruiz-lealii (rzl) are wild diploid relatives with potential resistance to adverse biotic and abiotic factors. To evaluate if this wild germplasm can be incorporated by conventional crosses into the tbr gene pool, pollen-pistil compatibility relations and seed set in interspecific crosses with tbr were investigated. In 4x tbr × 2x ktz crosses and the reciprocals, 89% and 52.2% of genotypic combinations (respectively) were compatible at the pollen-pistil level. Seeds were obtained from some genotypic combinations in both directions of the cross, suggesting that functional 2n gametes might be produced by particular ktz genotypes. In 2x rzl × 4x tbr crosses and their reciprocals, 35% and 11.7% (respectively) of the genotypic combinations were compatible at the pollen-pistil level, but no seeds were obtained. These results indicate that the reproductive isolation between 4x tbr and 2x ktz is incomplete, and that gene exchange between them is feasible. Moreover, further studies will have to be carried out with rzl to ascertain its crossability with 4x tbr.