One Fruit May Be Evolving in Reverse

Wild tomatoes on the Galápagos Islands rejecting millions of years of evolution, according to a new study.

Scientists from the University of California, Riverside noted that these tomatoes – devoid of South American ancestors have probably brought to the Pacific archipelago by birds – producing a toxic molecular cocktail that is not seen in millions of years.

Biologists have described this as a rare and striking case of “reverse evolution”.

Adam Jozwiak, a molecular biochemist at UC Riverside and the main study of the study, said Nowsweek That even if the “Devolution” makes a striking title, what we really see is that the evolution takes an unexpected turn, returning to a state that existed millions of years ago.

Could something similar happen in humans? Jozwiak said in theory, yes.

“Humans, like all organizations, are subject to evolutionary forces,” said Jozwiak.

“If the environmental conditions moved considerably to long time scales, it is possible that the features of our distant past can reappear, but that it happens is very uncertain. It is speculative and would take millions of years, if at all.”

The main players in this evolutionary reversal are alkaloids – chemicals that serve as integrated deterrent against pests.

Most cultivated tomatoes produce a type of alkaloid structure, but these Galápagos tomatoes have moved to an older chemical form – an evolutionary echo of their distant past and similar to the compounds found in the eggplant.

The researchers identified a single enzyme, known as Game8, which plays a central role in the formation of these chemicals. Normally, Game8 adds a chemical group in a specific three -dimensional form (“right -handed” or “left”).

The mutations of the game8 among the tomatoes of the Western island have only changed a few construction blocks (amino acids), overthrowing the form with ancestral form.

The research team confirmed this by inserting the modified enzyme into tobacco factories, which then produced the old -style alkaloid.

The chemical discrepancy is not random. The Eastern Islands, which are older and more diverse, house tomatoes that make modern alkaloids.

On the other hand, the harder environments on the younger western islands seem to promote ancestral and eggplant chemicals. Researchers think that older alkaloids can offer better defense in these more difficult conditions.

Jozwiak said Nowsweek The fact that the species of tomatoes studied were wild parents located in the Galápagos and not included in human food, which means that there are no direct implications for health for humans.

“If similar changes occurred in cultivated tomatoes, this could affect the way these toxins interact with our digestive system or the intestinal microbiome, but it is purely hypothetical,” he said. “For the moment, this discovery is important for what it tells us about evolution, and not for an immediate impact on human health.”

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Reference

Jozwiak, A., Almaria, M., Cai, J., Panda, S., Price, H., Vunsh, R., Pliner, M., Meir, S., Rogachev, I., and Aharoni, A. (2025). Enzymatic twists and turns have evolved stereo-divider alkaloids in the Solanaceae family. Nature Communications, 16(1), 5341. Https://doi.org/10.1038/S41467-025-59290-4