Potential and application of plant volatile organic compounds in agricultural disease control

Plant diseases caused by phytopathogenic microorganisms seriously threaten the global food security, and the development of traditional fungicides is greatly limited by the increasing resistance of pathogens to fungicides and the environmental exposure risks caused by fungicide application. A large number of plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released back into the atmosphere as signal molecules for communication and interaction between plants and the surrounding environment. Plant VOCs can protect themselves from herbivores, or attract pollinators and seed dispersers. They can also directly inhibit the growth of pathogens or activate plant defense systems. This paper reviewed the research progresses in the biosynthesis, collection, analysis, and induced release of plant VOCs, their bioactivity against phytopathogenic microorganisms, and induction of plant immune response; summarized the molecular mechanisms of the antibacterial activity and induced disease resistance of typical green leaf volatile trans-2-hexenal; discussed the limitations of plant VOCs in field applications and the prospects of future research, laying a foundation for the application of such compounds in sustainable disease control.