This review covers recent developments in our group regarding the synthesis, characterization and applications of single-crystalline one-dimensional nanostructures based on a wide range of material systems including noble metals, metal silicides and metal germanides. For the single-crystalline one-dimensional nanostructures growth, we have employed chemical vapor transport approach without using any catalysts, capping reagents, and templates because of its simplicity and wide applicability. Au, Pd, and Pt nanowires are epitaxially grown on various substrates, in which the nanowires grow from seed crystals by the correlations of the geometry and orientation of seed crystals with those of as-grown nanowires. We also present the synthesis of numerous metal silicide and germanide 1D nanostructures. By simply varying reaction conditions, furthermore, nanowires of metastable phase, such as $Fe_5Si_3$ and $Co_3Si$, and composition tuned cobalt silicides (CoSi, $Co_2Si$, $Co_3Si$) and iron germanides ($Fe_{1.3}Ge$ and $Fe_3Ge$) nanowires are synthesized. Such developments can be utilized as advanced platforms or building blocks for a wide range of applications such as plasmonics, sensings, nanoelectronics, and spintronics.