Chitosan, as a natural nontoxic biomaterial, has been demonstrated to inhibit fungal growth and enhance plant defense against pathogen infection. However, the antifungal pattern and mechanism of how chitosan application evokes plant defense are poorly elucidated. Herein, we provide evidence that chitosan exposure is fungicidal to C. heterostrophus. Chitosan application impairs conidia germination and appressorium formation of C. heterostrophus and has a pronounced effect on reactive oxygen species production, thereby preventing infection in maize. In addition, the toxicity of chitosan to C. heterostrophus requires Mkk1 and Mps1, two key components in the cell wall integrity pathway. The Δmkk1 and Δmps1 mutants were more tolerant to chitosan than the wild-type. To dissect chitosan-mediated plant defense response to C. heterostrophus, we conducted a metabolomic analysis, and several antifungal compounds were upregulated in maize upon chitosan treatment. Taken together, our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of chitosan-alleviated infection of C. heterostrophus, which would promote the application of chitosan in plant protection in agriculture. KEYWORDS: chitosan, Cochliobolus heterostrophus, cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, reactive oxygen species (ROS), metabolomic ■ MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials. The wild-type strain of C. heterostrophus C4 (Tox1 + , MAT1−2, ATCC 48331) was stored in the laboratory and used for gene deletion. Complete medium with xylose (CMX) was used for C. heterostrophus cultivation. Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium verticillioide, and Setosphaeria turcica were grown on PDA. All strains were