Dynamic changes in leaf wax n-alkanes and d13C during leaf development in winter wheat

The data set mainly included n-alkane concentration, carbon preference index (CPI), average chain length (ACL), compound-specific carbon isotope values (δ13Calk), Bulk leaf carbon isotopic analysis (δ13Cbulk), leaf area and leaf biomass. This study was conducted at the Luancheng Agro-Eco-Experimental Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (37°53′ N, 114°41′ E) during the winter wheat growing season in 2018-2019. Winter wheat was sown in 12 plots (5×8 m2) with 4 replications for 3 treatments, including rain-fed, deficit irrigation and full irrigation. Five flag leaves were randomly collected from each plot and we did the sampling weekly from flag leaf flush to maturity, for a total of 6 times. Leaf wax n-alkanes was extracted by immersion in n-hexane. The extracted n-alkanes were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC, Agilent 6890) coupled with a single quadrupole mass-selective detector (MS, Agilent 5973) for identification and quantification. Compound-specific carbon isotope values (δ13Calk) was analyzed using gas chromatography (GC, Agilent 6890) connected to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS; Thermo Scientific). Bulk leaf carbon isotopic analysis (δ13Cbulk) was measured using the Isoprime100 IRMS (Elementar UK Ltd., Cheadle, UK). Leaf area was measured using a leaf area meter (LI-3100, Li-Cor, Neb., USA).