Role of bacterial volatile compounds in bacterial biology

Abstract

Bacterial interactions with neighboring microorganisms via production of small metabolites enable bacteria to respond and adapt to environmental changes. The study of intercellular interactions primarily focused on soluble metabolites, but bacteria also produce and release into their headspace a wide variety of volatile secondary metabolites, the ecological roles of which have generally been overlooked. However, bacterial volatile compounds are known to contribute to interkingdom interactions (plant, fungi and nematodes), and recent studies also identified their at-a-distance influence on bacterial behavior. The present review describes the biological roles of bacterial volatile compounds in inter- and intraspecies bacterial interactions, a new and yet unexplored research area, with potential clinical and industrial applications.

Mining into interspecific bacterial interactions

“…This observation makes this bacterium a promising candidate for pro-biotic treatments in soil. Based on all results, we cannot exclude the application of 2,5-bis(1-methylethyl)-pyrazine for applications like fumigation in logistics, food, or for plant protection against plant-pathogenic fungi and bacteria in agricultural production systems (Audrain et al, 2015).…”

The ecological role of volatile mediated interactions belowground

“…For instance, 2,3 butanediol and acetoin are required for full virulence in Pectobacterium carotovorum. The same compounds can increase the production of virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Audrain et al 2015a). …”

“…Bacterial volatiles such as ammonia, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, nitric oxide, and 2-aminoacetophenone can alter biofilm formation or dispersal or affect motility of bacteria (Audrain et al 2015a;Raza et al 2016a). Bacteria often make use of their motility to move to other areas with more resources and/or less competitors.…”

Plant growth promotion by Pseudomonas fluorescens : mechanisms, genes and regulation

“…For example, from 12 Streptomyces strains isolated from the plant rhizosphere, a total of 381 VOCs were detected with most of them structurally unknown . To date, microbial VOCs have been grouped into hydrocarbons, ketones/ alcohols, acids, sulfur compounds, nitrogen-containing compounds and terpenes (Audrain et al, 2015;Schmidt et al, 2015). Bacteria can also release inorganic volatiles such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia and nitrous oxide (Audrain et al, 2015;Schmidt et al, 2015).…”

“…These include a role of VOCs as: 1) infochemicals in inter-and intraorganismal communications (Chernin et al, 2011;Schmidt et al, 2015), 2) antimicrobial agents (Kai et al, 2010;, and 3) compounds that promote or inhibit plant growth . Indeed, several bacterial genera, including Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, Serratia, Arthrobacter, Collimonas and Stenotrophomonas, influence plant growth via VOCs Garbeva et al, 2014;Audrain et al, 2015;Kanchiswamy et al, 2015;. The bacterial VOCs acetoin and 2,3-butanediol from Bacillus are wellknown for their role in plant growth promotion and induction of systemic resistance (ISR) against pathogen infection Ryu et al, 2004).…”