The first direct sexual hybrids between diploid nontuber-bearing species and diploid potato breeding lines are reported here. Three nontuberous species ofSolanum,S.brevidens,S.etuberosum, andS.fernandezianum, were used for sexual crosses, achieved by a combination of rescue pollinations and embryo rescue. Initial hybrid selection was made using an embryo spot marker, followed by the evaluation of morphological and reproductive traits. Putative hybrids were first tested for resistance to potato leaf roll virus derived from the wild species, and then were tested with molecular markers using species-specific DNA probes. Finally, the tuberization of several 2xhybrids was tested for actual potato germplasm enhancement. These hybrids are unique in terms of their potential to enhance recombination between chromosomes of wild species and those of cultivated potatoes in germplasm utilization, and to exploit the genetic nature of tuber formation. The finding that nontuber-bearingSolanumspp. can be directly crossed with tuber-bearing species also has important implications for the regulatory aspects of the use of genetically modified organisms.Key words: nontuber-bearingSolanum, potato germplasm enhancement, interspecific crosses, chromosome manipulation, inter-EBN crosses, diploid.