Relaciones cultivo-silvestre en la era de la biotecnología: el girasol en Argentina

agricultural biotechnology pushed the attention towards the relationships between crops and their wild relatives, since hybridization, gene flow, and crop-wild hybrid fitness can be means of transgene escape and ecosystem modification. this is a review of some studies on sunflower and two wild helianthus species native to north america that naturalized in argentina. both are diploids, annuals, and sexually compatible with cultivated sunflower. their distribution overlaps the sunflower crop area in the central region of the country; they present a high diversity, and behave as invaders. wild-crop gene flow was estimated and fitness modification of the hybrid progenies was assessed. wild helianthus species form also hybrid zones. as a germplasm source, both could provide valuable traits for sunflower breeding.