Potatoes, specifically the common cultivated species Solanum tuberosum, typically have 48 chromosomes. This is because they are usually tetraploid, meaning they have four sets of chromosomes (2n = 4x = 48)
. However, other cultivated potato species can have different chromosome counts depending on their ploidy level:
- Diploid potatoes have 24 chromosomes (2n = 2x = 24)
- Triploid potatoes have 36 chromosomes (2n = 3x = 36)
- Tetraploid potatoes have 48 chromosomes (2n = 4x = 48)
- Pentaploid potatoes have 60 chromosomes (2n = 5x = 60)
Wild potato relatives mostly have 24 chromosomes (diploid)
. In summary, the most common cultivated potato has 48 chromosomes, but chromosome numbers can vary among different potato species and ploidy levels.
