Abstract:To elucidate the relationship between fungal biomass and deoxynivalenol (DON) production of Fusarium culmorum (Fc) in Fc-inoculated wheat heads, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-Q-PCR) based on TaqMan technology and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used for Fc DNA quantification and toxin measurement in the head tissues of 17 wheat lines or genotypes 4 days after fungal inoculation. TaqMan-based RT-Q-PCR assay was found to be highly reliable and reproducible to measure Fc DNA. Fc DNA and DON concentrations varied in different wheat varieties or genotypes. A positive and logarithm correlation was observed between Fc biomass and DON concentrations in the Fc-inoculated wheat heads (y=19758lnx-111230).