Can you crossbreed a tomato with potato?

Here's why:

* Different species: Tomatoes and potatoes belong to different species within the same family (Solanaceae). They have different numbers of chromosomes, which are the structures that carry genetic information.

* Incompatibility: This difference in chromosome number makes it impossible for their genes to combine and create viable offspring.

* Hybrids: While some closely related species can be hybridized, tomatoes and potatoes are too far apart genetically for this to occur.

What about the "tomatoe"?

There is a fruit called a "tomatoe" or "pomato" that is marketed as a tomato-potato hybrid. However, this is a graft and not a true crossbreed. This means that a tomato plant is grafted onto a potato plant, but the two plants remain genetically distinct. The tomato plant produces tomatoes, and the potato plant produces potatoes. There is no "tomatoe" fruit that is a hybrid of the two.