Abstract
BackgroundThe coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, is a major pest of palm crops in tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands. Little molecular data exists for this pest, impeding our ability to develop effective countermeasures and deal with the species’ growing resistance to viral biocontrols. We present the first molecular biology analyses of this species, including a metagenomic assay to understand the microbiome of different sections of its digestive tract, and a transcriptomics assay to complement the microbiome data and to shed light on genes of interest like plant cell wall degrading enzymes and immunity and xenobiotic resistance genes.ResultsThe gut microbiota of Oryctes rhinoceros larvae is quite similar to that of the termite gut, as both species feed on decaying wood. We found the first evidence for endogenous beta-1,4-endoglucanase in the beetle, plus evidence for microbial cellobiase, suggesting the beetle can degrade cellulose together with its gut microfauna. A number of antimicrobial peptides are expressed, particularly by the fat body but also by the midgut and hindgut.ConclusionsThis transcriptome provides a wealth of data about the species’ defense against chemical and biological threats, has uncovered several potentially new species of microbial symbionts, and significantly expands our knowledge about this pest.
Highlights
The coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, is a major pest of palm crops in tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands
After removing one ambiguously identified operational taxonomic unit (OTU) (“Bacteria”), a total of 43 OTUs were identified by QIIME2 from the beetle guts and/or wood pulp, with the majority identified as uncultured microbes (Table 1)
Few sequences could be identified to genus with QIIME2, so all OTU sequences were re-analyzed with BLASTn
Summary
The coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, is a major pest of palm crops in tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands. It is one of the most damaging pests of coconut and oil palm in these regions, and attacks date, sago, betel, and raffia palms as well as banana, sugar apple, pandanus, and several ornamentals [1]. It is listed on the Global Invasive Species Database and has travelled as far east as Hawai’i [2]. Fungi (Metarhizium anisopliae M.) can kill the pest under certain conditions, as can nematodes
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