A Comparative Study on the Microbial Communities of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Red Palm Weevil)-Infected and Healthy Palm Trees

N Alshammari,Manuel Ponce-Alonso,Vajid N Veettil,Meshari Alazmi,Naimah A Alanazi,Abdel Moneim E Sulieman

doi:10.1007/s13369-021-05979-9

Abstract

Several studies have investigated palm trees’ microbiota infected with red palm weevil (RPW) (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), the major pest of palm trees. This study compared the microbial communities of infected and uninfected palm trees in the Hail region, Northern Saudi Arabia, determined by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing by Illumina MiSeq. The results indicated that taxonomic diversity variation was higher for infected tree trunk than the healthy tree trunk. Soil samples from the vicinity of healthy and infected trees did not have a significant variation in bacterial diversity. Myxococcota, Acidobacteriota, and Firmicutes were the dominant phyla in RPW-infected tree trunk, and Pseudomonadaceae was the most prominent family. This study is the first report on the characterization of RPW-infected and healthy palm trees’ microbiome.

Highlights

Date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.) holds a significant cultural and economic status in many Middle East regions since ancient times
This study investigated the bacterial community in soil and tree trunk from healthy and diseased palm trees infected by Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Red Palm Weevil) under field conditions
Significant differences for the bacterial community structure and function between healthy and diseased trees were observed in trunk and soil samples of palm trees, suggesting that red palm weevil (RPW) can only affect the host bacteria community structure and function in certain anatomic regions of the host tree

Summary

Introduction

Date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.) holds a significant cultural and economic status in many Middle East regions since ancient times. The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), an invasive woodboring insect, is the most dangerous and destructive pest to date palm trees and ornamental palm trees in this region [1]. This insect has been designated as a Category 1 date palm pest in the Middle East by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization [2] and is often referred to as the ‘cancer’ of palm trees. Due to the impact of RPW, hundreds of thousands of infested palm trees die each year [4], resulting in substantial ecological, environmental, and economic losses

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Conclusion