VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Diverse amount of volatile organic compounds is synthesized by plants, proven to be of utmost importance to the plants in various stages of their perpetuation cycle. Their functions are attraction of insects for pollination, dispersal of seeds, helping plants to withstand competition from neighboring plants, contributing towards maintaining plant biodiversity, helping in growth of agriculturally important plants and aiding plants in combating both abiotic stress and biotic stress. Calcium ions and ROS (reactive oxygen species) plays a crucial role as signaling molecules in plants in pathways dealing with induction of synthesis of VOCs in response to various biotic and abiotic stresses and the mechanisms elucidating the survival of plants in such conditions. Apart from this, the concern arising from the expected effects of global climatic changes on rate of synthesis and emission of VOCs in plants has also been expressed. The later part of the paper highlights the beginning of a novel field of metabolic engineering which deals with engineering of biochemical pathways of biosynthesis of VOCs in a manner so as to maximize the yield of beneficial VOCs and at the same time minimizing the yield of harmful VOCs to obtain desired results. The achievements that have been attained, the unintended effects that creep in and the challenges that need to be overcome to make advancements in the field of metabolic engineering have also been included.