Dormancy is a critical factor for the survival and persistence of weedy species. Contemporary approaches can be used to identify genes that regulate dormancy directly or indirectly to elucidate key mechanisms, signals, and pathways. Several domesticated plant species have been used as model systems to mark quantitative trait loci (QTL) that affect dormancy in seeds and vegetative propagules directly. A few weedy species have also been used to mark QTL and to determine dormancy genes using microarray analysis. Given the number of serious weeds worldwide and the role that dormancy plays in their persistence, developing fundamental knowledge on dormancy is an important step toward developing new strategies for weed management. This paper describes current research and outlines some weeds that might be candidates for dormancy investigations using molecular genetic and genomics approaches. An underlying theme in the selection of weeds for dormancy investigations is their relation to crop species and the ability to adapt existing resources to investigate dormancy in weedy plants.

Multiple cases of ALS inhibitor-resistant weed biotypes are reported for many species, including wild mustard. The physiological extent and molecular basis of resistance to ALS inhibitors was compared in four biotypes of wild mustard from western Canada: a sulfonylurea (SU)-resistant (R) biotype from Manitoba detected in 1992; an SU (ethametsulfuron)-R biotype from Alberta detected in 1993 (metabolism-based resistance); an SU-R biotype from Manitoba detected in 2002; and a SU- and imidazolinone (IMI)-R biotype from Saskatchewan detected in 2002. Herbicide dose-response experiments confirmed that the two Manitoba biotypes were resistant to the SU herbicides ethametsulfuron and tribenuron : thifensulfuron mixture, whereas the Saskatchewan biotype was resistant to both SU herbicides and to imazethapyr, an IMI herbicide. Sequence analysis of the ALS gene detected target site mutations in three of the four R biotypes, with amino acid substitutions Pro197 (CCT) to Ser (TCT) [Domain A of the gene] in the two SU-R Manitoba biotypes and Trp574 (TGG) to Leu (TTG) [Domain B] in the Saskatchewan biotype. The Alberta SU-R biotype had the same ALS nucleotide and amino acid sequence as the susceptible population at these two positions. Two heterozygous individuals [Trp574 (Tt/gG)] were detected in the Saskatchewan biotype, and genetic segregation for nucleotide bases and resistance phenotype was consistent with single gene control. Nucleotide variation in neutral regions of the ALS gene varied with biotype, with no variation in the two Manitoba biotypes, two variants in the Saskatchewan biotype, and 16 neutral nucleotide polymorphisms (0.9%) in the Alberta biotype. The occurrence of at least three different ALS inhibitor-R biotypes in this important weed species is likely to impact negatively on the use of ALS inhibitors, such as the IMIs, and serves as a warning for strict implementation of herbicide rotations to prevent or delay the evolution and spread of such populations.

The critical period of weed control is the portion of the life cycle of a crop during which it must be kept weed-free to prevent yield loss due to weed interference. The advent of herbicide-resistant canola (Brassica napus L.) varieties in western Canada has meant that there are now more options for postemergence weed control in canola, and this has prompted increased interest in identifying the optimum timing for weed control in this crop. A critical period experiment was conducted at three locations in southern Manitoba in 1998 and 1999, and it consisted of two sets of treatments. In the first set of treatments, the crop was kept weed-free for increasing lengths of time to determine when emerging weeds would no longer reduce crop yield. In the second set of treatments, weeds were permitted to grow in the crop for increasing lengths of time to determine when weeds emerging with the crop began irrevocably to reduce crop yield. Results of the experiments indicated that canola must be kept weed-free in most cases until the four-leaf stage of the crop (17–38 days after crop emergence [DAE]) and, in one early-seeded experiment, until the six-leaf stage of the crop (41 DAE), in order to prevent >10% yield loss. After the four- to six-leaf stage of the canola crop, few weeds emerged, and late-emerging weeds accumulated little shoot biomass. Weeds needed to be removed by the four-leaf stage of the crop (17–38 DAE) to prevent >10% yield loss due to weed interference. In all but the early-seeded experiment, the critical weed-free period and the critical time of weed removal overlapped, such that a single weed removal at the four-leaf stage of the crop would have been sufficient to prevent >10% yield loss. This information will be useful for providing weed control recommendations to canola producers.

The nitrogen (N) response of competing plants may be affected by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) availability and maximum potential growth rate, which determine N requirements. The responses of two crop (corn and soybean) and six weed species (common lambsquarters, common waterhemp, giant foxtail, velvetleaf, wild mustard, and woolly cupgrass) in low and high (150 and 450 μmol m−2 s−1) PAR levels to daily fertilization with either low or high (0.2 or 7.5 mM) NH4NO3 levels were studied. Leaf area of all species responded positively to N by 8 d after emergence (DAE) when grown in high PAR; in low PAR, most species did not respond until 11 DAE. Dry weight and leaf area of all species at 18 DAE were greater with high than with low N. These responses to high N were also greater in high than in low PAR for all species. Dry weights with high N were up to 100% greater in low PAR and up to 700% greater in high PAR than dry weights with low N. These responses suggest that low PAR reduced the benefit of N to the plants. The regression of relative growth rate (RGR) with high N to RGR with low N had a slope that was less than unity (β = 0.79), indicating that species with a higher RGR with high N experienced greater decreases in RGR with low N. Similarly, the sensitivity (change in RGR) of plants grown with high and low N was positively related to RGR with high N. RGR differences among crop and weed species may be related to differences in N requirement that could be exploited for weed management. RGR and seed size were negatively correlated, which may explain previous observations that small-seeded weeds were more sensitive to environmental stress.

Legume green manures have been used for millennia as sources of N for succeeding crops, but they are also sources of phytotoxic compounds that may selectively influence the performance of crop and weed species. To determine whether substitution of legume green manure for synthetic N fertilizer could enhance crop yield while suppressing weed growth, we conducted a field experiment in which common bean and wild mustard were sown in monocultures and mixtures. Three soil management treatments were employed: red clover residue, ammonium nitrate fertilizer (84 kg N ha−1), and a control that received neither red clover nor ammonium nitrate. In the absence of wild mustard, bean seed yield was equivalent in the red clover and ammonium nitrate treatments, where yields were 11 to 26% greater, respectively, than in the control. When bean grew in competition with wild mustard, its seed yield was as high (1995 and 1996) or higher (1994) with red clover residue than with ammonium nitrate. Averaged over bean competition treatments, wild mustard biomass production was 37% lower with red clover residue than with ammonium nitrate in 1994, 53% lower in 1995, and equivalent in these two treatments in 1996. Bean seed yield and wild mustard biomass production were strongly correlated with whole-plant N content and more weakly correlated with leaf area duration. Of the variation observed in wild mustard seed production, 89 to 93% was predicted by the variation in wild mustard biomass. The results of this study indicate that substitution of red clover green manure for ammonium nitrate fertilizer can be compatible with bean production goals and can contribute to the management of wild mustard.

Managing fertilizer in cropping systems may be an important component of integrated weed management programs. A field study was conducted to determine the effect of various application methods of the 15N-enriched nitrogen (N) fertilizer on N uptake in green foxtail, wild mustard, and spring wheat and on crop–weed competition. N application methods consisted of ammonium nitrate in solution applied broadcast on the soil surface, applied in pools on the soil surface at 20-cm intervals between every second wheat row, and point injected 10 cm deep at intervals similar to those of the surface pools. An unfertilized control treatment was also included. N uptake by green foxtail throughout the growing season was often greater from surface broadcast than from surface pools or point-injected N and was sometimes greater from surface pools than from point-injected N. In contrast, N uptake by wild mustard was rarely affected by the fertilizer placement method. In the presence of weeds, the ranking of N uptake by wheat usually was point injected > surface pools > surface broadcast. Weed biomass was often greater with surface broadcast than with either surface pools or point-injected N. In the absence of weeds, wheat yields were similar across the three N application methods. However, in the presence of green foxtail, wheat yields were greater with point-injected N than with surface broadcast N in two of the 3 yr and with surface pools of N in one of the 3 yr. In the presence of wild mustard, wheat yields were greater with surface pools and point-injected N compared with the unfertilized control in two of the 3 yr, whereas yields with broadcast N were never greater than the unfertilized control. Study findings suggest that point-injected N results in suppressed weed growth, not by reduced N uptake by weeds but instead by greater N uptake by wheat that increases its competitiveness with weeds. Information gained in this study will be utilized to develop a more integrated program for weed management in spring wheat.

Managing crop fertilization may be an important component of integrated weed management systems that protect crop yield and reduce weed populations over time. A field study was conducted to determine the effects of various timings and application methods of nitrogen (N) fertilizer on weed growth and spring wheat yield. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied the previous fall (October) or at planting (May) at a dose of 50 kg ha−1. Nitrogen application treatments consisted of granular ammonium nitrate applied broadcast on the soil surface, banded 10 cm deep between every crop row, banded 10 cm deep between every second crop row, or point-injected liquid ammonium nitrate placed between every second crop row at 20-cm intervals and 10 cm deep. Treatments were applied in 4 consecutive yr to determine annual and cumulative effects over years. Density and biomass of wild oat, green foxtail, wild mustard, and common lambsquarters were sometimes lower with spring- than with fall-applied N. Spring wheat yield was never lower and was higher in 50% of the cases, when N was spring rather than fall applied. Nitrogen application method generally had larger and more consistent effects than application timing on weed growth and wheat yield. Shoot N concentration and biomass of weeds were often lower with subsurface banded or point-injected N than with surface broadcast N, and concurrent increases in spring wheat yield usually occurred with these N placement treatments. Depending on the weed species, the weed seedbank at the conclusion of the 4-yr study was reduced by 25 to 63% with point-injected compared with broadcast N. Information gained in this study will contribute to the development of more integrated and cost-effective weed management programs in wheat.