Quantification of Fusarium graminearum in infected wheat by species specific real-time PCR applying a TaqMan probe

A new real-time PCR based method was developed for the species-specific detection, identification and quantification of Fusarium graminearum in planta. It utilizes a TaqMan hybridisation probe targeting the beta-tubulin gene and a plasmid standard. The assay is highly specific giving no product with DNA of closely related species. It is very sensitive, detecting down to five gene copies per reaction, and is able to produce reliable quantitative data over a range of six orders of magnitude.