The relationship between grain yield and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) was analysed in wheat grown under different water regimes in the Ningxia Province (north‐west of China). When the association was significant, the relationships between grain yield, Δ and other drought tolerance related traits, such as leaf ash content (ma), chlorophyll concentration (Chl), relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (gS) and the ratio of internal CO2 leaf concentration to ambient CO2 concentration (Ci/Ca), were also examined. Using correlation analysis, the relationships were determined during two consecutive years in a set of 20 spring wheat cultivars (landraces, improved varieties and advanced lines) under rainfed and irrigated conditions, including saline conditions. The relationship between Δ and yield within environments highly depended on the quantity of water stored in the soil at sowing, the quantity and distribution of rainfall during the growth cycle, and the irrigation before anthesis. Δ predicted grain yield under limited irrigation (post‐anthesis water stress) but not under pre‐anthesis water stress (rainfed conditions), fully irrigated and saline conditions. Under limited irrigation, grain Δ correlated significantly to grain yield leaf ma at heading and maturity. It also significantly positively correlated to Chl, RWC, gS and Ci/Ca assessed at anthesis. A precise characterization of the timing and intensity of the abiotic constraints experienced by the crop is consequently needed before implementing the use of Δ in wheat breeding programmes.

Root activity plays a dominant role in grain filling in cereal crops. However, the importance of deep roots for regulating post-anthesis leaf senescence is not clearly understood in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study, we used 32 P tracing to estimate the difference in wheat root activity at soil depths of 30 and 70 cm and the root restriction method to investigate the effects of vertical distribution of deep roots on leaf senescence, with non-restricted plants as controls. Recovery of radioactive 32 P indicated that deep roots had significantly higher activity than upper roots in wheat. Root restriction at a soil depth of 50 cm caused significant decreases in the activities of superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1), peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7), catalase (EC 1.11.1.6) and ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11) at 16 days after anthesis and thereafter resulting in an increase in malondialdehyde. As a result, chlorophyll levels and net photosynthesis decreased. Ultimately, the root-restricted wheat produced a significantly lower grain yield than the non-restricted controls. These data suggest that deep roots are pivotal for regulating plant senescence, duration of grain filling, and yield formation.