Chilean tetraploid cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum, is distinct from the Andean populations:: Microsatellite data

This study tests the genetic difference between landrace populations of Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. tuberosum and subsp. andigenum (Juz. & Bukasov) Hawkes using nuclear DNA microsatellites. Microsatellite loci were amplified in subsp. andigenum (35 accessions), subsp. tuberosum (35 accessions), and other cultivated and wild species (22 accessions). A total of 208 alleles were scored from 18 microsatellite loci spread throughout all 12 chromosomes of potato. Using an infinite allele model and a least squares method of analysis, microsatellite loci separated subsp. tuberosum from subsp. andigenum, and cultivated and wild species. These results support the genetic difference of these two populations and their recognition at some classification level.