Chromosome 4 controls potential water use efficiency (δ¹³C) in barley

Abstract

By combining the approaches of whole-shoot carbon discrimination and genetic analysis, we found that chromosome 4 controls potential water use efficiency (δ13C) in barley. In a simultaneous experiment, δ13C of 19 wild barley populations from Israel were grown under well-watered conditions in Scotland. Populations originating at the most arid sites had the most negative δ13C, hence the lowest potential water use efficiency.