Volatile affairs in microbial interactions

Abstract

Microorganisms are important factors in shaping our environment. One key characteristic that has been neglected for a long time is the ability of microorganisms to release chemically diverse volatile compounds. At present, it is clear that the blend of volatiles released by microorganisms can be very complex and often includes many unknown compounds for which the chemical structures remain to be elucidated. The biggest challenge now is to unravel the biological and ecological functions of these microbial volatiles. There is increasing evidence that microbial volatiles can act as infochemicals in interactions among microbes and between microbes and their eukaryotic hosts. Here, we review and discuss recent advances in understanding the natural roles of volatiles in microbe-microbe interactions. Specific emphasis will be given to the antimicrobial activities of microbial volatiles and their effects on bacterial quorum sensing, motility, gene expression and antibiotic resistance.

Современные Тенденции Развития Биологии Водных Экосистем

“…обзор [60]), включая QS-эффект (quorum sensing), влияние на подвижность, экспрессию генов и устойчи-вость к антибиотикам; • между бактериями и микроводорослями [10,30,62,80], включая взаимодействия, приводящие к изменению плоидности водорослей [71]; • между разными микроводорослями [77], в том числе цианобактериями и зелёными [19]; • между диатомеями и микрозоопланктоном -динофлагеллятами [7,79], динофлагеллятами и цилиатами, что изменяет динамику их роста и соотношение видов [44]. Взаимодействие продуцентов и консументов изучено наиболее подробно.…”

Comments on bacterial and fungal interactions in medicine, agriculture and the environment

“…There is extant evidence that microbial volatiles are capable of presenting as infochemicals in interactions between microbes and their eukaryotic hosts which are related to impact on quorum sensing, motility, gene expression and antibiotic resistance, especially regarding bacteria (Schmidt et al, 2015). Investigations have shown that inter-kingdom interactions can elicit novel development properties in bacteria, thus inducing Streptomyces depart from its conventional natural cycle, such as volatile organic compounds acting as long-range communication signals with the potential to propagate microbial morphological switches (Jones et al, 2017).…”

The ecological role of volatile mediated interactions belowground

“…However, VOCs are not simply metabolic 'waste products' which is indicated by their diverse biological activities (Effmert et al 2012;Schmidt et al 2015;. Furthermore, studies revealed that for bacteria the production of certain VOCs with antifungal activity including dimethyl sulfide is regulated by GacS/GacA twocomponent regulatory system or by quorum sensing (Han et al 2006;Müller et al 2009;Cheng et al 2016;Ossowicki et al 2017).…”

“…Microbial VOCs (mVOCs) can play important roles in competitive interactions. For several bacteria and fungi, a production of VOCs with antibacterial and/ or antifungal activity was reported Insam & Seewald 2010;Garbeva et al 2011a;Leeder et al 2011;Effmert et al 2012;Bitas et al 2013;Schmidt et al 2015;Kanchiswamy et al 2015a;Werner et al 2016;Piechulla et al 2017). Especially soil microbes producing VOCs that inhibit plant pathogens are of major interest for sustainable crop protection (Fernando et al 2005;Weisskopf 2013; Kanchiswamy et al 2015a;Kanchiswamy et al 2015b;Bailly & Weisskopf 2017).…”

“…In fact, several studies indicated that microbial as well as plant VOCs could play important roles in belowground intra-and interkingtom interactions where they can function as antimicrobials, carbon source, as well as infochemicals affecting physiological and developmental processes (Wheatley 2002;Maffei et al 2011;Effmert et al 2012;Bitas et al 2013;Peñuelas et al 2014;Kanchiswamy et al 2015a;Schmidt et al 2015;Werner et al 2016;Piechulla et al 2017). Volatile-mediated interactions belowground.…”