Our group focusses on smut fungal infection. In the past years, we have established the Brassicaceae smut fungus Thecaphora thlaspeos as a genetically tractable pathosystem in model plants. This fungus infects roots and shoots, growth along the vasculature and spreads systemically in an endophytic manner in its perennial hosts, before producing teliospores in the siliques. We now aim at characterizing the molecular communication between host plant and fungal pathogen to understand the tight balance in this long-term partnership.