Potato toxin gene found in Japan

When eating potatoes, you can't eat buds. This is because potato buds contain natural toxins, which can cause food poisoning. Japanese researchers have found that a gene in potatoes is involved in the synthesis of natural toxins in potato buds and in the skin that turns green after exposure to light. If the gene can no longer work, it is expected to develop new varieties of potatoes with few toxic ingredients.

Researchers from the Japanese Institute of Science and Chemistry, Osaka University and other institutions conducted experiments with yeast and found that a gene called "SSR2" is involved in cholesterol synthesis. The researchers then made potatoes that disabled the gene and found that the content of steroid glycoside alkaloids dropped to about 10% of the usual level.