• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.45-55
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• 2023

The diploid Solanum cardiophyllum, a wild tuberbearing species from Mexico is one of the relatives to potato, S. tuberosum. It has been identified as a source of resistance to crucial pathogens and insects such as Phytophthora infestans, Potato virus Y, Colorado potato beetle, etc. and is widely used for potato breeding. However, the sexual hybridization between S. cardiophyllum and S. tuberosum is limited due to their incompatibility. Therefore, somatic hybridization can introduce beneficial traits from this wild species into the potato. After somatic hybridization, selecting fusion products using molecular markers is essential. In the current study, the chloroplast genome of S. cardiophyllum was sequenced by next-generation sequencing technology and compared with those of other Solanum species to develop S. cardiophyllum-specific markers. The total length of the S. cardiophyllum chloroplast genome was 155,570 bp and its size, gene content, order and orientation were similar to those of the other Solanum species. Phylogenic analysis with 32 other Solanaceae species revealed that S. cardiophyllum was expectedly grouped with other Solanum species and most closely located with S. bulbocastanum. Through detailed comparisons of the chloroplast genome sequences of eight Solanum species, we identified 13 SNPs specific to S. cardiophyllum. Further, four SNP-specific PCR markers were developed for discriminating S. cardiophyllum from other Solanum species. The results obtained in this study would help to explore the evolutionary aspects of Solanum species and accelerate breeding using S. cardiophyllum.