Aromatic Agriculture: Volatile Compound-Based Plant Disease Diagnosis and Crop Protection

Volatiles exist ubiquitously in nature. Volatile compounds produced by plants and microorganisms confer inter-kingdom and intra-kingdom communications. Autoinducer signaling molecules from contact-based chemical communication, such as bacterial quorum sensing, are relayed through short distances. By contrast, biogenic volatiles derived from plant-microbe interactions generate long-distance (>20 cm) alarm signals for sensing harmful microorganisms. In this review, we discuss prior work on volatile compound-mediated diagnosis of plant diseases, and the use of volatile packaging and dispensing approaches for the biological control of fungi, bacteria, and viruses. In this regard, recent developments on technologies to analyze and detect microbial volatile compounds are introduced. Furthermore, we survey the chemical encapsulation, slow-release, and bio-nano techniques for volatile formulation and delivery that are expected to overcome limitations in the application of biogenic volatiles to modern agriculture. Collectively, technological advances in volatile compound detection, packaging, and delivery provide great potential for the implementation of ecologically-sound plant disease management strategies. We hope that this review will help farmers and young scientists understand the nature of microbial volatile compounds, and shift paradigms on disease diagnosis and management to aromatic (volatile-based) agriculture.