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Volatile Organic Compound Profiles from Wheat Diseases are Pathogen-Specific and Can be Exploited for Disease Classification

Summary

This research investigated how plant diseases produce unique chemical signatures that could be used to identify different wheat diseases. Scientists found that different fungal pathogens produce distinct patterns of airborne chemicals when they infect wheat plants, similar to how different people have unique fingerprints. This discovery could lead to better ways of detecting plant diseases before they cause major crop damage. Impacts on everyday life: – Could lead to earlier detection of crop diseases, helping farmers protect food supplies – May reduce the need for widespread pesticide use by enabling targeted treatment of infected areas – Could help develop new tools for monitoring crop health using chemical sensors – May contribute to more sustainable and efficient farming practices – Could potentially reduce food costs by preventing crop losses

Background

Plants and fungi emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are either constitutively produced or produced in response to changes in their physico-chemical status. These chemical signals could potentially be utilized as diagnostic tools for plant diseases. VOCs play important roles in defense signaling and communication between plants, and can serve as priming agents to enhance resistance to both herbivores and plant pathogens.

Objective

To determine if VOC profiles are specific for different wheat pathogens and the diseases they cause in wheat. The study aimed to: 1) Characterize fungal isolates’ VOC profiles in pure culture, 2) Group pathogens into disease categories based on VOC profiles, 3) Compare pathogen VOCs from pure culture vs infected plants, 4) Evaluate if infected plants emit pathogen-specific VOC profiles across wheat varieties, and 5) Correlate VOC release with disease progression over time.

Results

Each fungal species in pure culture emitted a distinct VOC blend, and isolates could be classified into their respective disease groups with 71.4-84.2% accuracy. When combining all collection times, disease classification was correct in 84-86% of cases evaluated. Key compounds like germacrene D and sativene were associated with Fusarium head blight infection, while mellein and heptadecanone were linked to Septoria nodorum blotch infection across wheat varieties. Plants infected with powdery mildew emitted significant amounts of 1-octen-3-ol and 3,5,5-trimethyl-2-hexene.

Conclusion

VOC blends can be used to successfully classify wheat diseases under controlled conditions, with specific compounds correlating to disease severity. This represents an initial step toward developing real-time disease detection methods in the field based on chemical signatures of wheat diseases. Further research is needed to validate these findings under field conditions with multiple simultaneous pathogen infections.
  • Published in:Frontiers in Microbiology,
  • Study Type:Laboratory Experimental Study,
  • Source: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.803352
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