Abstract
The red palm weevil (RPW; Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera Curculionidae)) is an invasive insect pest that is difficult to manage due to its nature of infesting the host palm trees from within. A holistic, molecular-based approach to identify proteins that correlate with RPW infestation could give useful insights into the vital processes that are prevalent to the host’s infestation response and identify the potential biomarkers for an early detection technique. Here, a shotgun proteomic analysis was performed on oil palm (Elaeis guineensis; OP) under untreated (control), wounding by drilling (wounded), and artificial larval infestation (infested) conditions at three different time points to characterise the RPW infestation response at three different stages. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed many overlapping pathways between the control, wounded, and infested groups. Further analysis via literature searches narrowed down biologically relevant proteins into categories, which were photosynthesis, growth, and stress response. Overall, the patterns of protein expression suggested abscisic acid (ABA) hormone signalling to be the primary driver of insect herbivory response. Interspecies molecular docking analysis between RPW ligands and OP receptor proteins provided putative interactions that result in ABA signalling activation. Seven proteins were selected as candidate biomarkers for early infestation detection based on their relevance and association with ABA signalling. The MS data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD028986. This study provided a deeper insight into the mechanism of stress response in OP in order to develop a novel detection method or improve crop management.
Highlights
The red palm weevil (RPW, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleptera Curculionidae) is an invasive insect pest for various palm species
The proteomic expression profiles were compared among the control, wounded, and infested groups
Differentially expressed proteins were identified by comparing control and infested group (C/I), control and wounded group (C/W), and wounded and infested group (W/I)
Summary
The red palm weevil (RPW, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleptera Curculionidae) is an invasive insect pest for various palm species. RPW is endemic in South and Southeast Asian countries, and has become a prevalent pest problem in Asian countries, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean [1]. RPW infestation can inflict mortality on host trees. RPW attacks the trunk and the crown of the host palm. RPW infests from the roots [2]. They usually exploit wounded or pruned parts as these parts produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be detected by RPW [3]
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