Potato has an enormous influence worldwide. As the fourth largest contributor to human caloric consumption, potato holds its own in the agricultural arena. As a member of the large Solanaceae family, potato shares the spotlight with a number of other economically important crops, including tomato, pepper, eggplant, as well as the ornamental petunia. Although these crops may seem quite different from one another, genomic analysis has revealed a great similarity in terms of gene content and organization. From a research perspective, this similarity is quite valuable for it means that genomic information and resources obtained from potato can be applied to other members of the family and vice versa.

Potato's agricultural importance extends beyond the Solanaceae family. Indeed, a number of potato characteristics (such as polyploidy and heterozygosity) are present in many non-Solanaceous crops, suggesting that these may be key characteristics separating crops from other plant species.