Kiev Mutant is extremely susceptible. Wonga followed by Kalya are the most resistant narrow-leafed varieties. For details see the paper by Sweetingham, Cowling, Buirchell and Brown in this Crop Update. VCG 1 exists in North America and Europe and VCG 3 in Europe. The relative virulence of VCG 1 and VCG 2 is unknown but it seems that VCG 3 is probably a weak pathogen that mainly infects strawberries.
Seedlings emerge from infected seed and develop lesions on the hypocotyl and cotyledons.
When mature, these lesions produce an abundance of spores, that spread through the crop by rain. The majority of spores are only spread 1 or 2 metres. Anthracnose spores are held together by a gelatinous substance in the lesion and do not spread by wind unless they have been released by rain. They can be picked up dry by contact with farm machinery, animals and insects and spread long distances. Pod infection is common and the fungus can grow into the pod cavity and infect the developing seed.