<p class="ql-block">番茄和土豆同属全球重要粮食作物，常见于世界各地餐桌。近期，一项发表在顶级期刊的研究发现土豆的祖先竟是番茄与一种类马铃薯野生植物“跨界联姻”的产物。土豆竟是番茄的“孩子”？它们的亲缘关系是如何被发现的？这一发现又会给我们的餐桌带来什么影响？不妨阅读下面的外刊文章，从中寻找答案。</p> <p class="ql-block">What's a Potato? A Nine-Million-Year-Old Tomato.</p><p class="ql-block">什么是土豆？一颗九百万岁的番茄。</p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block">As a foodstuff, the potato can be baked, boiled, mashed, smashed, hashed, roasted, scalloped, fried and more. As a crop, it is among the world's most important, with more than 350 million tons produced annually. Its efficiency — it requires less land than wheat or rice — and its ability to grow in a variety of environments has made it essential to global food security. </p><p class="ql-block">作为食物，土豆的做法繁多：能整颗烤、下锅煮、捣成泥、压成块、切丁炒，还能烘烤、焗烤、油炸等等。作为农作物，它是世界上最重要的作物之一，每年产量超过3.5亿吨。相比小麦或水稻，土豆需要更少的土地，这种高效性以及能在多种环境中生长的特性，使土豆成为全球粮食安全的关键。</p><p class="ql-block">For all that, the plant's origins have remained obscure. Everybody eats potatoes, it seems, but nobody can say where they came from. </p><p class="ql-block">尽管如此，这种植物的起源一直扑朔迷离。似乎人人都在吃土豆，但没人能确切说出它来自何处。</p><p class="ql-block">Now scientists can, and the answer is: tomatoes. According to a study, potatoes may have arisen nine million years ago through the combining of genetic material from Etuberosum, a group of potato-like plants from South America, and wild tomato plants. "A potato is the child of tomato and Etuberosum," said Zhi Yang Zhang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Cell. "We did this analysis and we found, 'Oh, he's a child of two plants.'" </p><p class="ql-block">如今科学家们给出了答案：番茄。根据一项研究，土豆可能在九百万年前诞生，源自南美一种类似土豆的植物类马铃薯和野生番茄之间的基因结合。“土豆是番茄和类马铃薯的孩子。”中国农业科学院的研究员、该研究的主要作者张智洋说道，这项研究发表了在《细胞》期刊上。“我们做了分析，然后发现：‘哦，原来它是这两种植物的孩子。’”</p><p class="ql-block">Pingxian Zhang, another lead author from the Chinese Academy for Agricultural Sciences, expressed excitement at the possibilities for future studies. Only a handful of potato species are cultivated, and improving on them has posed challenges: As a crop, they are typically propagated through cloning, which limits their genetic variety and makes them more vulnerable to diseases. Engineering potatoes with genetic material from tomatoes could be a promising way forward, Dr. Zhang said.</p><p class="ql-block">该研究的另一位主要作者、中国农业科学院的张平贤对未来研究的可能性表示兴奋。如今只有少数土豆品种被栽培，而改良它们一直面临着挑战：作为作物，土豆一般通过克隆繁殖，这限制了它们的基因多样性，并使其更容易受到疾病侵害。张博士表示，将番茄的遗传物质引入土豆，可能是一条十分有前景的发展道路。</p><p class="ql-block">(外刊内容选自友邻优课)</p> <p class="ql-block">想想我们最早学英语时是不是也总把“tomato”和“potato”的拼写弄混？难怪呢，原来土豆的“妈妈”是番茄——这可是有亲缘关系的科学发现为证的。难怪网友会调侃，薯条蘸番茄酱堪称“亲子套餐”，这说法还真挺形象！</p> <p class="ql-block">2025年，中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所的黄三文团队，<span style="font-size:18px;">经数百个野生马铃薯和番茄类亲缘植物基因组数据的系统分析，像做DNA亲子鉴定般还原了马铃薯进化家谱，揭开了马铃薯的神秘身世。</span></p> <p class="ql-block">该研究通过分析128个高质量基因组发现：土豆祖先是番茄（母本）与一种类马铃薯野生植物（父本）“跨界杂交”的产物。此次杂交让马铃薯首次进化出薯块器官，使其具备储存养分和无性繁殖的能力。薯块使马铃薯适应干旱、寒冷环境，并通过芽点直接繁殖，促进了物种多样性和全球传播。</p> <p class="ql-block">从番茄到土豆，这段900万年的跨种联姻，不仅刷新了我们对食物的认知，也为其杂交育种开辟新思路。未来，科学家或能通过精准调控番茄和类马铃薯的基因片段，培育出更高产、耐病、适应极端气候的“超级土豆”。</p> <p class="ql-block">基于黄三文团队的研究，中国农科院利用番茄-马铃薯杂交机制培育出“番茄薯1号”原型品种。它融合了番茄的抗氧化特性和马铃薯的高产性状，β-胡萝卜素含量还提升了3倍。说不定过不了多久，在我们餐桌上就能看到同一植株结出的番茄和土豆，想想还挺新奇的！</p> <p class="ql-block">(图片选自网络)</p>