Microbial volatiles in defense

Abstract

Microbes are versatile, dynamic, and the most adaptive entities occurring in nature, and these properties enable them to strive in almost any conceivable environment. These are loaded with the variety of compounds having potential to cope up with such harsh conditions. Among the diversity of compounds, the important one is volatile compounds; these are light molecular weight, low vapor pressure compounds that easily disperse in environment, plant, and microbes and trigger metabolic and physiological responses that confer microbial defense and induce systemic resistance in plants. Basic chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques enable us to understand the chemical structure and function of these fascinating molecules. In addition to this, modern OMICS methods giving opportunity to deep insight of microbial diversity and strengthen the concept of volatile compounds function by providing real-time pictures of their expression and signaling. Incorporation of computational tools with molecular biology techniques incredibly creates a reservoir of knowledge-based database of volatile compounds' structure, function, diversity, signaling, and even prediction through statistical tools. Hence, we are closer to decipher the significance of microbial volatile compounds in plants and microbes defense as well, and basic understanding, computational approaches, and intellectual input can definitely provide some fruitful findings.