Frost resistant potato hybrids via Solanum acaule, Bitt. Diploid-Tetraploid crosses

Solanum juzepczukii Buk. and Solanum curtilobum Juz. et Buk. are two important primitive cultivated species of potato which are planted in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia. Little natural variation exists within these species. Crosses were made to artificially recreate these species using tetraploid cultivated potatoes as female parents and triploids derived from acaule-diploid crosses as males. The new hybrids were tetraploid (2n = 48) with a high degree of heterosis and variability, and several potential cultivated clones possessing valuable characters such as yield, earliness, frost tolerance and good tuber type were selected.