Institute of Plant Biotechnology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar. 30202, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain.
Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Biotechnology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar. 30202, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 10;838(Pt 2):156155. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156155. Epub 2022 May 21.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include a broad range of compounds. Their production influences a large number of processes, having direct and secondary effects on different fields, such as climate change, economy and ecology. Although our planet is primarily covered with water (~70% of the globe surface), the information on aquatic VOCs, compared to the data available for the terrestrial environments, is still limited. Regardless of the difficulty in collecting and analysing data, because of their extreme complexity, diversification and important spatial-temporal emission variation, it was demonstrated that aquatic organisms are able to produce a variety of bioactive compounds. This production happens in response to abiotic and biotic stresses, evidencing the fundamental role of these metabolites, both in terms of composition and amount, in providing important ecological information and possible non-invasive tools to monitor different biological systems. The study of these compounds is an important and productive task with possible and interesting impacts in future practical applications in different fields. This review aims to summarize the knowledge on the aquatic VOCs, the recent advances in understanding their diverse roles and ecological impacts, the generally used methodology for their sampling and analysis, and their enormous potential as non-invasive, non-destructive and financeable affordable real-time biomonitoring tool, both in natural habitats and in controlled industrial situations. Finally, the possible future technical applications, highlighting their economic and social potential, such as the possibility to use VOCs as valuable alternative source of chemicals and as biocontrol and bioregulation agents, are emphasized.
挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）包括广泛的化合物。它们的产生影响着许多过程，对气候变化、经济和生态等不同领域产生直接和间接的影响。尽管我们的星球主要被水覆盖（~全球表面的 70%），但与陆地环境相比，有关水生 VOCs 的信息仍然有限。尽管由于其极端的复杂性、多样性和重要的时空排放变化，数据收集和分析存在困难，但水生生物能够产生多种生物活性化合物这一点已得到证实。这种产生是对非生物和生物胁迫的反应，证明了这些代谢物在组成和数量上的基本作用，为提供重要的生态信息和监测不同生物系统的可能非侵入性工具提供了重要作用。研究这些化合物是一项重要且富有成效的任务，在未来不同领域的实际应用中具有潜在的有趣影响。本综述旨在总结水生 VOCs 的知识，了解其多样化作用和生态影响的最新进展，以及用于采样和分析它们的常用方法，以及它们作为非侵入性、非破坏性和可负担得起的实时生物监测工具的巨大潜力，无论是在自然栖息地还是在受控的工业环境中。最后，强调了可能的未来技术应用，突出了它们的经济和社会潜力，例如将 VOCs 用作有价值的化学品替代来源以及作为生物控制和生物调节剂的可能性。
