Interactions between breeding system and ploidy affect niche breadth in Solanum.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural science
• Evolutionary biology
• Ecology

Background:

• Understanding crop wild relatives is key for agricultural sustainability.
• Wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota) are important, but their evolutionary and ecological factors are not fully analyzed with genomic and phylogenetic data.
• Identifying wild relatives for breeding abiotic stress tolerance requires integrated analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze wild potato climate niches in relation to breeding systems and ploidy.
• To identify factors contributing to niche breadth in wild potato species.
• To assess the potential of wild potatoes for crop adaptation to climate change.

Main Methods:

• Ordinary least-squares (OLS) and phylogenetic generalized least-squares (PGLS) analyses were employed.
• Climate niche, breeding system (self-incompatible/self-compatible), and ploidy level were analyzed.
• Phylogenetic non-independence was corrected for in statistical models.

Main Results:

• Self-incompatible diploid and self-compatible polyploid wild potato species exhibit significantly broader climate niches.
• This finding remained robust after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness.
• Breeding system and ploidy combinations decouple geographical range from niche diversity.

Conclusions:

• Specific breeding system and ploidy combinations enhance niche breadth in wild potatoes.
• These traits suggest wild potatoes possess valuable adaptive potential for agriculture.
• Wild potatoes are promising candidates for breeding crops resilient to changing climates.