Markus Witzler<p>🌱 International Day of Plant Health🌱</p><p>Today, we highlight an often-overlooked topic: plant health – vital for food security, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture.</p><p>In our current research at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg and Julius Kühn-Institute, we’re tackling a key question:<br>How can we detect plant diseases and pests before visible symptoms appear?</p><p>🔬 The answer: With the nose of chemistry!<br>We analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that plants emit when under stress or attacked by<br>🦠 bacteria,<br>🍄 fungi, and<br>🪲 insect pests.</p><p>Using advanced GC-MS technology (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), we aim to identify these unique molecular “scent signatures” and use them as an early-warning system to detect harmful organisms before they cause damage.</p><p>🧪 Our goal: to “sniff out” plant diseases and pests.</p><p><a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/PlantHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PlantHealth</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/InternationalPlantHealthDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>InternationalPlantHealthDay</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/VOCs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VOCs</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/GCMS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GCMS</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/EarlyDetection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EarlyDetection</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/Pathogens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Pathogens</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/InvasiveSpecies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>InvasiveSpecies</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/AnalyticalChemistry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AnalyticalChemistry</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/ScienceForSustainability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ScienceForSustainability</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/PlantPathogens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PlantPathogens</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/PlantProtection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PlantProtection</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/VOCAnalysis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VOCAnalysis</span></a></p>