Solanum bulbocastanum

Solanum bulbocastanum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Solanum
Species:	S. bulbocastanum
Binomial name
Solanum bulbocastanum Donal

Solanum bulbocastanum (ornamental nightshade) is a plant in the Solanaceae family, native to Mexico and parts of the U.S. Southwest. It is closely related to the potato and, as it has evolved strong resistance to all known varieties of potato blight, has been used to genetically engineer resistance into the cultivated varieties of potatoes around the world. The use of genetic engineering is necessary as efforts to hybridize by traditional methods have so far been unsuccessful.

References

• Gene RB cloned from Solanum bulbocastanum confers broad spectrum resistance to potato late blight, Junqi Song et al., PNAS 2003

External links

• Solanum bulbocastanum Dunal on Solanaceae Source - Images, description, specimens and a full list of scientific synonyms.
• Patents Online - potato blight resistance gene