The High-Quality Draft Genome Sequence of Solanum etuberosum

The genus Solanum comprises over a thousand species, most notably potato (Solanum tuberosum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). The published genomes of both species, as well as those of close relatives enabled genome-level comparisons that resulted in advances in understanding the two genomes at structural and molecular level.

However, to determine the evolutionary changes that gave rise to potato and tomato, an outgroup species is necessary. Solanum etuberosum, a tuber-less species native to Chile, separated from the main lineage just before the tomato and potato lineage diverged. The temporal proximity of these events makes S. etuberosuman ideal outgroup for comparative genomics studies.

We here present a high-quality draft genome sequence of S. etuberosum. With 3,666 scaffolds it covers 94% of the estimated total genome size of 702 Mb. The N50 statistic at scaffold level is 1.7 Mb, with 115 scaffolds equal or longer than N50 (L50 statistic). The S. etuberosum genome sequence encodes 96% of core eukaryotic gene-set. It thus enables discovery of the origin of economically important and biologically interesting traits, as well as provides an invaluable reference point for structural studies.