List of VOCs and VOC patterns of target pests in pure culture

In this study, we collected VOCs from Phytophthora ramorum and 30 related oomycete species, the Pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), the Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), the Southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula) and the Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). The VOCs were captured on thermal desorption tubes or adsorbent filters, using a custom-made head space collection device. The compounds were identified by comparing the mass spectra of the captured VOCs with commercial standards in the NIST Mass spectra library. All tested organisms consistently produced unique VOC profiles, except for one oomycete, which did not produce any detectable VOC consistently enough for consideration. These promising results support our hypothesis that VOCs can be exploited for plant pest identification and detection. In our following studies we will investigate if these pest related VOCs will also be detected around host plants attacked by them.