''Solanum chacoense'' is a species of wild

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

. It is native to South America, where it can be found in

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, and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. It "is one of the most widely distributed wild potato species."Miller, J. T. and D. M. Spooner. (1996)
Introgression of ''Solanum chacoense'' (''Solanum'' sect. ''Petota''): Upland populations reexamined.
''Systematic Botany'' 21(4) 461-75. It grows as a common weed in disturbed habitat such as crop fields.Simon, R., et al. (2010)
Wild and cultivated potato (''Solanum'' sect. ''Petota'') escaped and persistent outside its natural range.
''Invasive Plant Science and Management'' 3 286-93. It can also be found in

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

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, and elsewhere as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. This plant has been extensively researched in the quest to find ways to improve its relative, the cultivated

(''Solanum tuberosum''). It is sexually compatible with the common potato. It was likely introduced to regions outside its usual range when it was imported for study and breeding with the potato. Many of the sites where it has been found are next to plant breeding stations and

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s. This wild species contains

leptin Leptin (from Ancient Greek, Greek λεπτός ''leptos'', "thin" or "light" or "small") is a hormone predominantly made by adipose cells and enterocytes in the small intestine that helps to regulate Energy homeostasis, energy balance by inhib ...

glycoalkaloid Glycoalkaloids are a family of chemical compounds derived from alkaloids to which sugar groups are appended. Several are potentially toxic, most notably the poisons commonly found in the plant species ''Solanum dulcamara'' (bittersweet nightshade) ...

s which make it resistant to the

Colorado potato beetle The Colorado potato beetle (''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''), also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, or the potato bug, is a major pest of potato crops. It is about long, with a bright yellow/o ...

(''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''), a pest of potato crops.Cooper, S. G., et al. (28.11.2011 Wayback Machine)
Combining engineered resistance, avidin, and natural resistance derived from ''Solanum chacoense'' Bitter to control Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).
''J Econ Entomol'' 102(3) 1270-80. It has also shown resistance to

verticillium wilt Verticillium wilt is a wilt disease affecting over 350 species of eudicot plants. It is caused by six species of ''Verticillium'' fungi: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. nubilum'', ''V. theobromae'' and ''V. tricorpu ...

Lynch, D. R., et al. (1997)
Identification of a gene conferring high levels of resistance to Verticillium wilt in ''Solanum chacoense''.
''Plant Disease'' 81(9) 1011-14. and

potato leafroll virus Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) is a member of the genus ''Polerovirus'' and family ''Solemoviridae''. The phloem limited positive sense RNA virus infects potatoes and other members of the family Solanaceae. PLRV was first described by Quanjer ''e ...

.Brown, C. R. and P. E. Thomas. (1993)
Resistance to potato leafroll virus derived from ''Solanum chacoense'': characterization and inheritance.
''Euphytica'' 74(1-2) 51-57.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3489173 chacoense Taxa named by Friedrich August Georg Bitter