TY  - JOUR
TI  - Method for Assessing Virulence of Colletotrichum higginsianum on Arabidopsis thaliana Leaves Using Automated Lesion Area Detection and Measurement
AU  - Tsushima, Ayako 
AU  - Gan, Pamela 
AU  - Shirasu, Ken 
VL  - 9
IS  - 22
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/20
SP  - e3434
C1  - Bio-protocol 2019;9:e3434
DO  - 10.21769/BioProtoc.3434
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.3434
AB  - The plant pathogenic fungus, Colletotrichum higginsianum is widely used to understand infection mechanisms, as it infects the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. To determine the virulence of C. higginsianum, several methods have been developed, such as disease reaction scoring, lesion measurement, entry rate assays, and relative fungal biomass assays using real-time quantitative PCR. Although many studies have taken advantage of these methods, they have shortcomings in terms of objectivity, time, or cost. Here, we show a lesion area detection method applying ImageJ color thresholds to images of A. thaliana leaves infected by C. higginsianum. This method can automatically detect multiple lesions in a short time without the requirement for special equipment and measures lesion areas in a standardized way. This high throughput technique will aid better understanding of plant immunity and pathogenicity and contribute to reproducibility of assays.
KW  - Colletotrichum higginsianum
KW  - Fungal phytopathogen
KW  - Arabidopsis thaliana
KW  - Infection assay
KW  - ImageJ
JF  - Bio-protocol
SN  - 2331-8325
PB  - Bio-protocol LLC.
BIO101  - False