Defence by duplication: The relation between phenotypic glyphosate resistance and EPSPS gene copy number variation in Amaranthus palmeri.

Gene copy number variation (CNV) has been increasingly associated with organismal responses to environmental stress, but we know little about the quantitative relation between CNV and phenotypic variation. In this study we quantify the relation between variation in EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) copy number using digital drop PCR and variation in phenotypic glyphosate resistance in 22 populations of Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer Amaranth), a range-expanding agricultural weed. Overall, we detected a significant positive relation between population mean copy number and resistance. The majority of populations exhibited high glyphosate resistance yet maintained low-resistance individuals, resulting in bimodality in many populations. We also investigated threshold models for the relation between copy number and resistance, and found evidence for a threshold of ~15 EPSPS copies: there was a steep increase in resistance below the threshold, followed by a much shallower increase. Across 924 individuals, as copy number increased the range of variation in resistance decreased, yielding an increasing frequency of high phenotypic resistance individuals. Among populations we detected a decline in variation (s.d.) as mean phenotypic resistance increased from moderate to high, consistent with the prediction that as phenotypic resistance increases in populations, stabilizing selection decreases variation in the trait. Our study demonstrates that populations of A. palmeri can harbour wide variation in EPSPS copy number and phenotypic glyphosate resistance, reflecting the history of, and template for future, resistance evolution.

Assessing the effects of hybridization and precipitation on invasive weed demography using strength of selection on vital rates.

BACKGROUND: As global climate change transforms average temperature and rainfall, species distributions may meet, increasing the potential for hybridization and altering individual fitness and population growth. Altered rainfall specifically may shift the strength and direction of selection, also manipulating population trajectories. Here, we investigated the role of interspecific hybridization and selection imposed by rainfall on the evolution of weedy life-history in non-hybrid (Raphanus raphanistrum) and hybrid (R. raphanistrum x R. sativus) populations using a life table response experiment. RESULTS: In documenting long-term population dynamics, we determined intrinsic (r) and asymptotic (λ) population growth rates and sensitivities, a measure of selection imposed on demographic rates. Hybrid populations experienced 8.7-10.3 times stronger selection than wild populations for increased seedling survival. Whereas crop populations generally exhibit little dormancy and wild populations often exhibit dormancy, non-hybrid populations experienced 10% stronger selection than hybrid populations for exhibiting seed dormancy. Selection on survival-to-flowering in wild, not hybrid, populations declined marginally with increasing soil moisture. Hybrid populations exhibited greater r, but not λ, than wild populations regardless of moisture environment. In general, fecundity contributed most to differences in λ but fecundity only contributed positively to hybrid λ relative to wild λ when precipitation was altered (either higher or lower than control) and not under control watering conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Selection on key demographic traits may not change dramatically in response to rainfall, and hybridization may more strongly influence the demography of these weedy species than rainfall. If hybrid populations can respond to selection for increased dormancy, this may make it more difficult to deplete weed seed banks and increase the persistence of crop genes in weed populations.

Contemporary evolution and the dynamics of invasion in crop-wild hybrids with heritable variation for two weedy life-histories.

Gene flow in crop-wild complexes between phenotypically differentiated ancestors may transfer adaptive genetic variation that alters the fecundity and, potentially, the population growth (λ) of weeds. We created biotypes with potentially invasive traits, early flowering or long leaves, in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) and F5 crop-wild hybrid (R. sativus × R. raphanistrum) backgrounds and compared them to randomly mated populations, to provide the first experimental estimate of long-term fitness consequences of weedy life-history variation. Using a life table response experiment design, we modeled λ of experimental, field populations in Pellston, MI, and assessed the relative success of alternative weed strategies and the contributions of individual vital rates (germination, survival, seed production) to differences in λ among experimental populations. Growth rates (λ) were most influenced by seed production, a trait altered by hybridization and selection, compared to other vital rates. More seeds were produced by wild than hybrid populations and by long-leafed than early-flowering lineages. Although we did not detect a biotype by selection treatment effect on lambda, lineages also exhibited contrasting germination and survival strategies. Identifying life-history traits affecting population growth contributes to our understanding of which portions of the crop genome are most likely to introgress into weed populations.