Streptomyces volatile compounds influence exploration and microbial community dynamics by altering iron availability

ABSTRACT Bacteria and fungi produce a wide array of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and these can act as infochemicals or as competitive tools. Recent work has shown that the VOC trimethylamine (TMA) can promote a new form of Streptomyces growth, termed ‘exploration’. Here, we report that TMA also serves to alter nutrient availability in the area surrounding exploring cultures: TMA dramatically increases the environmental pH, and in doing …