2nd Place: D3000: Get a whiff of this! The chemical language of volatile organic compounds

Chemical signals (volatile and non-volatile) are the primary means of communication for most organisms, particularly plants and insects. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a large class of organic chemical compounds, classified according to their molecular structure or functional group. At room temperature VOCs have high volatility (rapid evaporation), so they are emitted as gasses. This infographic highlights tomato VOCs in response to herbivore feeding and damage.

There are a massive number of identified VOCs, with new compounds discovered regularly. All plants, including tomato, emit VOCs, with over 1700 identified plant VOCs produced by more than 90 plant families. Plants continuously emit VOCs through nearly all plant tissues, including leaves, flowers, fruits, and roots. Animals including humans and insects can sense plant VOCs, and many insects rely on them to find food and oviposition sites.

Plants use VOCs to communicate and mediate interactions with other plants, insects, bacteria, and fungi. Plants synthesize and emit VOCs for various reasons: to protect themselves from biotic and abiotic stress, and as a warning signal that herbivorous insects are attacking. These herbivore-induced can be sensed by neighboring plants that ‘eavesdrop’ and prepare their own defenses. VOCs play ecological roles critical for recruitment of beneficials such as pollinators, seed dispersers and natural enemies of herbivore pests, as well as repellence of pests and pathogens. Improved understanding of VOCs as biological controls could reduce the need for synthetic chemical pesticides and help agricultural systems become more sustainable.