PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Fernando Hernández
AU  - Roman B. Vercellino
AU  - Claudio Pandolfo
AU  - Jennifer R. Mandel
AU  - Alejandro Presotto
TI  - Rapid evolution of seed dormancy during sunflower de-domestication
AID  - 10.1101/2021.05.21.445131
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.05.21.445131
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/02/16/2021.05.21.445131.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/02/16/2021.05.21.445131.full
AB  - Hybridization between crops and their wild relatives may promote the evolution of de-domesticated (feral) weeds. Wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is typically found in ruderal environments, but crop-wild hybridization may facilitate the evolution of weedy populations. Using one crop-specific mitochondrial marker (CMS-PET1) and 14 nuclear SSR markers, we studied the origin and genetic diversity of a recently discovered weedy population of sunflower (named BRW). Then, using a resurrection approach, we tested for rapid evolution of weedy traits (seed dormancy, herbicide resistance, and competitive ability) by sampling weedy and wild populations 10 years apart (2007 and 2017). All the weedy plants present the CMS-PET1 cytotype, confirming their feral origin. At the nuclear markers, BRW showed higher genetic diversity than the cultivated lines and low differentiation with one wild population, suggesting that wild hybridization increased their genetic diversity. We found support for rapid evolution towards higher seed dormancy, but not for higher competitive ability or herbicide resistance. Our results highlight the importance of seed dormancy during the earliest stages of adaptation and show that crop-wild hybrids can evolve quickly in agricultural environments.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.