Trichomes as a barrier: Understanding the strawberry resistance to anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum acutatum

• Modified leaf disc assay enabled robust anthracnose resistance screening. • Trichome traits influence both resistance and susceptibility to anthracnose in strawberries. • Non-deformed glandular trichomes associated with lower injury levels. • Deformed and non-glandular trichomes promote fungal colonization. Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) production faces significant challenges due to anthracnose fruit rot caused by Colletotrichum acutatum , resulting in substantial yield losses. While trichomes are known to provide the first line of defense against pests and pathogens, their role of strawberry resistance to fungal infections remains largely unexplored. In this study, thirty-one diverse strawberry genotypes were screened for anthracnose resistance using an in-house leaf disc assay and characterized their leaf trichomes morphology by Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) and measured physiological attributes, such as chlorophyll index, and normalized difference vegetation index. Microscopic analysis revealed a significant variation in trichome morphology among genotypes. Resistant genotypes exhibited a higher ratio of non-deformed glandular trichomes to deformed glandular trichomes, as well as a lower density of non-glandular trichomes. A significant negative correlation was observed between physiological traits such as chlorophyll index and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with percentage injury, indicating that plants physiological nature plays a positive role in exhibiting resistance to anthracnose. The morpho-physiological characterization provided an understanding of trait variations among the genotypes, and the integration of novel trichome analysis with physiological traits provided their possible role in disease resistance. This study highlights the characterization of strawberry phenotypes and screening potential genetic resources with anthracnose resistance.