With the increasing focus on herbicide-resistant weeds and the lack of introduction of new modes of action, many producers have turned to planting annual cover crops as a method for reducing weed populations. Recent studies have suggested that perennial cover crops such as white clover could be used as living mulch. However, white clover is slow to establish and is susceptible to competition from winter weeds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine clover tolerance and weed control in established stands of white clover to several herbicides. Studies were conducted in the fall and winter of 2018 to 2019, and 2019 to 2020, at the J. Phil Campbell Research and Education Center in Watkinsville, GA, and the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center in Midville, GA. POST applications of imazethapyr, bentazon, or flumetsulam at low and high rates, or in combination with 2,4-D and 2,4-DB, were applied when clover reached the 2- to 3-trifoliate stage. Six weeks after the initial POST application, a sequential application of bentazon and flumetsulam individually, and combinations of 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, and flumetsulam, were applied over designated plots. Clover biomass was similar across all treatments except where it was reduced by sequential applications of 2,4-D + 2,4-DB + flumetsulam in the 2019 to 2020 season, indicating that most treatments were safe for use on establishing living mulch clover. A single application of flumetsulam at the low rate or a single application of 2,4-D + 2,4-DB provided the greatest control of all weed species while minimizing clover injury compared with the nontreated check. These herbicide options allow for control of problematic winter weeds during clover establishment, thereby maximizing clover biomass and limiting canopy gaps that would allow summer weed emergence.

Raphanus raphanistrum (wild radish) is a highly competitive weed in winter crops. Integrated weed management practices and decision-making tools benefit from the ability to predict seed longevity and dormancy status in the soil seed bank, as well as time and density of emergence in the field. We wondered if unique values taken from databases could serve for modelling purposes, whatever the origins of the weed populations. We investigated dormancy and longevity of fruits buried in the soil over a four-year seed burial experiment of two highly contrasted populations that differ by their biogeographical origin (oceanic versus continental climate), their habitat (arable field versus undisturbed) and their fruit size (thick versus thin fruit wall). High viability persisted over two years, followed by a rapid reduction, especially for the ‘continental-undisturbed-thin’ population. Dormancy cycling, with dormancy at its lowest in October, was observed for the ‘oceanic-arable-thick’ population, whilst a slow decrease without clear seasonal pattern was found for the other population. These results indicate different ways of regulating seed persistence in the soil, which might be taken into account when building demographic models. These differences could be due to interactions between fruit wall thickness and the other factors; it is possible that a thicker fruit wall increases longevity by promoting dormancy by physical restriction, but depending on temperature. Thinner fruit walls would make plants display other adaptive strategies to maximize survival time in the soil seed bank. Studies involving more populations and isogenic material are needed to address this specific question.

The response of sweet white lupin to several herbicides was evaluated over five years at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) and two years at Cornhill, New Brunswick (NB). Excellent crop tolerance was found to the herbicides: chloramben, ethalfluralin, fluazifop-P, linuron, metobromuron, metolachlor, and trifluralin. None of the above herbicides affected crop grain yield or 1000 seed weight. Sweet white lupin was slightly injured by metribuzin at 500 g ai/ha but yields and 1000 seed weight were not affected. Higher rates of metribuzin reduced lupin yield and 1000 seed weight. Imazethapyr applied POST with 0.25% v/v Agral 90 and 1.0% v/v 28% N fertilizer caused severe crop injury and reduced lupin yields.

Hybridization of Brassica napus L. (oilseed rape) and Raphanus raphanistrum L. (wild radish) has been demonstrated, and may be the first step towards introgression of transgenes in this wild relative. If wild radish were to display a new adaptive advantage by expressing the transgene, this could modify the ecological balance of species within the agro-ecosystem. To determine if transgenes remained stable in the hybrid, the frequency of herbicide resistance was studied over four advanced generations of hybrid progeny (G8 to G11) that were subjected to herbicide selection pressure. It is expected that hemizygous resistant plants containing an herbicide resistance transgene back-crossed to wild radish would have 50% resistant progeny. In each of the G8 to G11 generations, only 18% of the progeny from resistant plants were resistant. The chromosome complement of herbicide-susceptible progenies, analyzed at G9, was not different from that of wild populations of wild radish. Herbicide-resistant G9 progeny showed higher chromosome instability, and one third of the progeny contained a supernumerary chromosome. These results suggest that in the presence of herbicide selection pressure, the transgene for herbicide resistance would be maintained despite a lack of stabilized introgression. In the absence of selection, the frequency of resistance in the population is expected to decline.

Determining the frequency of crop-wild transgene flow under field conditions is a necessity for the development of regulatory strategies to manage transgenic hybrids. Gene flow of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) transgenes was quantified in three field experiments using eleven independent transformed Brassica napus L. lines and the wild relatives, B. rapa L. and Raphanus raphanistrum L. Under a high cropto wild relative ratio (600:1), hybridization frequency with B. rapa differed among the individual transformed B. napus lines (ranging from ca. 4% to 22%), however, this difference could be caused by the insertion events or other factors, e.g., differences in the hybridization frequencies among the B. rapa plants. The average hybridization frequency over all transformed lines was close to 10%. No hybridization with R. raphanistrum was detected. Under a lower crop to wild relative ratio (180:1), hybridization frequency with B. rapa was consistent among the transformed B. napus lines at ca. 2%. Interspecific hybridization was higher when B. rapa occurred within the B. napus plot (ca. 37.2%) compared with plot margins (ca. 5.2%). No significant differences were detected among marginal plants grown at 1, 2, and 3 m from the field plot. Transgene backcrossing frequency between B. rapa and transgenic hybrids was determined in two field experiments in which the wild relative to transgenic hybrid ratio was 5–15 plants of B. rapa to 1 transgenic hybrid. As expected, ca. 50% of the seeds produced were transgenic backcrosses when the transgenic hybrid plants served as the maternal parent. When B. rapa plants served as the maternal parent, transgene backcrossing frequencies were 0.088% and 0.060%. Results show that transgene flow from many independent transformed lines of B. napus to B. rapa can occur under a range of field conditions, and that transgenic hybrids have a high potential to produce transgenic seeds in backcrosses.