Colletotrichum higginsianum is an ascomycete pathogen that causes anthracnose disease on many plants in the Brassicaceae, including Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition to its hemibiotrophic life-style, which involves differentiation of specialised infection structures, the fungus can be cultured in vitro and genetically transformed. The Colletotrichum-Arabidopsis interaction is therefore an important model pathosystem for investigating the molecular basis of fungal pathogenicity and host responses.
