The role of intraspecific crop-weed hybridization in the evolution of weediness and invasiveness: cultivated and weedy radish (Raphanus sativus L.) as a case study

PREMISECrop-wild/weed hybrids usually exhibit intermediate and maladapted phenotypes compared to their parents; however, hybridization has sometimes been associated with increased fitness, potentially leading to enhanced weediness and invasiveness. Since the ecological context and maternal genetic effects may affect hybrid fitness, they could influence the evolutionary outcomes of hybridization. Here, we evaluated the performance of first-generation crop-weed hybrids of Raphanus sativus L. and their parents under two contrasting ecological conditions. METHODSUsing experimental hybridization and common garden experiments under field conditions, we assessed the differences in time to flowering, survival to maturity, plant biomass and reproductive components between bidirectional crop-weed hybrids and their parents, under two contrasting ecological conditions, agrestal (wheat cultivation, fertilization, weeding) and ruderal (human-disturbed uncultivated area) over two years. RESULTSCrop, weeds and bidirectional hybrids overlapped -at least partially-during the flowering period, indicating a high probability of gene flow. Hybrids survived to maturity at rates at least as successful as their parents and showed higher plant biomass and fecundity, which resulted in higher fitness compared to their parents in both contrasting environments, without any differences associated with the direction of the hybridization. CONCLUSIONSIntraspecific crop-weed hybridization, regardless of the cross direction, has the potential to promote weediness in weedy R. sativus both in agrestal and ruderal environments, increasing the chances of the introgression of crop alleles into weed populations. This is the first report of intraspecific crop-weed hybridization in R. sativus.