TY - JOUR

T1 - Root-emitted volatile organic compounds:

T2 - can they mediate belowground plant-plant interactions?

AU - Delory, Benjamin M.

AU - Delaplace, Pierre

AU - Fauconnier, Marie Laure

AU - du Jardin, Patrick

PY - 2016/5

Y1 - 2016/5

N2 - Background: Aboveground, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that act as chemical signals between neighbouring plants. It is now well documented that VOCs emitted by the roots in the plant rhizosphere also play important ecological roles in the soil ecosystem, notably in plant defence because they are involved in interactions between plants, phytophagous pests and organisms of the third trophic level. The roles played by root-emitted VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling, however, are still poorly documented in the scientific literature. Scope: Given that (1) plants release volatile cues mediating plant-plant interactions aboveground, (2) roots can detect the chemical signals originating from their neighbours, and (3) roots release VOCs involved in biotic interactions belowground, the aim of this paper is to discuss the roles of VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling belowground. We also highlight the technical challenges associated with the analysis of root-emitted VOCs and the design of experiments targeting volatile-mediated root-root interactions. Conclusions: We conclude that root-root interactions mediated by volatile cues deserve more research attention and that both the analytical tools and methods developed to study the ecological roles played by VOCs in interplant signalling aboveground can be adapted to focus on the roles played by root-emitted VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling.

AB - Background: Aboveground, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that act as chemical signals between neighbouring plants. It is now well documented that VOCs emitted by the roots in the plant rhizosphere also play important ecological roles in the soil ecosystem, notably in plant defence because they are involved in interactions between plants, phytophagous pests and organisms of the third trophic level. The roles played by root-emitted VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling, however, are still poorly documented in the scientific literature. Scope: Given that (1) plants release volatile cues mediating plant-plant interactions aboveground, (2) roots can detect the chemical signals originating from their neighbours, and (3) roots release VOCs involved in biotic interactions belowground, the aim of this paper is to discuss the roles of VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling belowground. We also highlight the technical challenges associated with the analysis of root-emitted VOCs and the design of experiments targeting volatile-mediated root-root interactions. Conclusions: We conclude that root-root interactions mediated by volatile cues deserve more research attention and that both the analytical tools and methods developed to study the ecological roles played by VOCs in interplant signalling aboveground can be adapted to focus on the roles played by root-emitted VOCs in between- and within-plant signalling.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Plant-plant signalling

KW - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

KW - Plant root volatile emission

KW - rhizosphere

KW - Root-root interactions

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016059842&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11104-016-2823-3

DO - 10.1007/s11104-016-2823-3

M3 - Scientific review articles

VL - 402

SP - 1

EP - 26

JO - Plant and Soil

JF - Plant and Soil

SN - 0032-079X

IS - 1-2

ER -