Multi-Pronged Investigation of Volatile Compound-Mediated Interactions of Fusarium oxysporum with Plants, Fungi, and Bacteria.

Proteins and many biogenic compounds require water as a medium for movement. However, because volatile compounds (VCs) can travel through the air and porous soils due to their ability to vaporize at ambient temperature, they can mediate diverse intra- and inter-kingdom interactions and perform ecologically functions even in the absence of water. Here, we describe several tools and approaches for investigating how Fusarium oxysporum interacts with plants and other microbes through VCs and how VC-mediated interactions affect its ecology and pathology. We also present a method for capturing F. oxysporum VCs for analysis via gas chromatography linked to mass spectrometry.