The diversity of 13C isotope discrimination in a Quercus robur full-sib family is associated with differences in intrinsic water use efficiency, transpiration efficiency, and stomatal conductance

C-13 discrimination in organic matter with respect to atmospheric CO2 (Delta C-13) is under tight genetic control in many plant species, including the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) full-sib progeny used in this study. Delta C-13 is expected to reflect intrinsic water use efficiency, but this assumption requires confirmation due to potential interferences with mesophyll conductance to CO2, or post-photosynthetic discrimination. In order to dissect the observed Delta C-13 variability in this progeny, six genotypes that have previously been found to display extreme phenotypic values of Delta C-13 [either very high ('high Delta') or low ('low Delta') phenotype] were selected, and transpiration efficiency (TE; accumulated biomass/transpired water), net CO2 assimilation rate (A), stomatal conductance for water vapour (g(s)), and intrinsic water use efficiency (W-i=A/g(s)) were compared with Delta C-13 in bulk leaf matter, wood, and cellulose in wood. As expected, 'high Delta' displayed higher values of Delta C-13 not only in bulk leaf matter, but also in wood and cellulose. This confirmed the stability of the genotypic differences in Delta C-13 recorded earlier. 'High Delta' also displayed lower TE, lower W-i, and higher g(s). A small difference was detected in photosynthetic capacity but none in mesophyll conductance to CO2. 'High Delta' and 'low Delta' displayed very similar leaf anatomy, except for higher stomatal density in 'high Delta'. Finally, diurnal courses of leaf gas exchange revealed a higher g(s) in 'high Delta' in the morning than in the afternoon when the difference decreased. The gene ERECTA, involved in the control of water use efficiency, leaf differentiation, and stomatal density, displayed higher expression levels in 'low Delta'. In this progeny, the variability of Delta C-13 correlated closely with that of W-i and TE. Genetic differences of Delta C-13 and W-i can be ascribed to differences in stomatal conductance and stomatal density but not in photosynthetic capacity.