Relationships between flag leaf carbon isotope discrimination and several morpho-physiological traits in durum wheat genotypes under Mediterranean conditions.

Relationships between flag leaf carbon isotope discrimination (Delta), water status parameters, residual transpiration (RT) and stomatal density (SD) were examined on a collection of 144 durum wheat accessions. Associations between Delta, grain yield (GY) and harvest index (HI) were also studied. The field trial was conducted under Mediterranean conditions. The crop cycle was characterised by a period of drought from February until maturity. A broad range of values we obtained for Delta (16.5-19.9 per thousand) and other physiological traits. Flag leaf Delta was positively and significantly correlated with both HI and GY. Delta was better correlated with HI than with GY, which suggests that higher Delta values indicate higher efficiency of carbon partitioning to the kernel, leading to higher GY. Delta was found positively related with RT and negatively related with SD. This relationship may indicate a possible SD component of RT due to the association between conductance and SD. Strong positive correlations were found between Delta and water status parameters, suggesting that Delta may provide a good indication of plant water status in durum wheat under rainfed Mediterranean conditions.