TY - JOUR
KW - Animals
KW - male
KW - Pheromones
KW - Quarantine
KW - Receptors
KW - Pheromone
KW - Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
KW - Trees
KW - Weevils
KW - aggregation pheromone
KW - animal
KW - deorphanization
KW - genetics
KW - male
KW - pheromone
KW - pheromone receptor
KW - quarantine
KW - red palm weevil
KW - tree
KW - weevil
AU - Binu Antony
AU - Jibin Johny
AU - Nicolas Montagne
AU - Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
AU - Remi Capoduro
AU - Khasim Cali
AU - Krishna Persaud
AU - Mohammed Al-Saleh
AU - Arnab Pain
AB - Palm trees are of immense economic, sociocultural, touristic, and patrimonial significance all over the world, and date palm-related knowledge, traditions, and practices are now included in UNESCOs list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Of all the pests that infest these trees, the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is its primary enemy. The RPW is a category-1 quarantine insect pest that causes enormous economic losses in palm tree cultivation worldwide. The RPW synchronizes mass gathering on the palm tree for feeding and mating, regulated by a male-produced pheromone composed of two methyl-branched compounds, (4RS, 5RS)-4-methylnonan-5-ol (ferrugineol) and 4(RS)-methylnonan-5-one (ferrugineone). Despite the importance of odorant detection in long-range orientation towards palm trees, palm colonization, and mating, the pheromone receptor has not been identified in this species. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of the first RPW pheromone receptor, RferOR1. Using gene silencing and functional expression in Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons, we demonstrate that RferOR1 is tuned to ferrugineol and ferrugineone and binds five other structurally related molecules. We reveal the lifetime expression of RferOR1, which correlates with adult mating success irrespective of age, a factor that could explain the wide distribution and spread of this pest. As palm weevils are challenging to control based on conventional methods, elucidation of the mechanisms of pheromone detection opens new routes for mating disruption and the early detection of this pest via the development of pheromone receptor-based biosensors.
DO - 10.1111/mec.15874
M1 - 9
N1 - Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
N2 - Palm trees are of immense economic, sociocultural, touristic, and patrimonial significance all over the world, and date palm-related knowledge, traditions, and practices are now included in UNESCOs list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Of all the pests that infest these trees, the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is its primary enemy. The RPW is a category-1 quarantine insect pest that causes enormous economic losses in palm tree cultivation worldwide. The RPW synchronizes mass gathering on the palm tree for feeding and mating, regulated by a male-produced pheromone composed of two methyl-branched compounds, (4RS, 5RS)-4-methylnonan-5-ol (ferrugineol) and 4(RS)-methylnonan-5-one (ferrugineone). Despite the importance of odorant detection in long-range orientation towards palm trees, palm colonization, and mating, the pheromone receptor has not been identified in this species. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of the first RPW pheromone receptor, RferOR1. Using gene silencing and functional expression in Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons, we demonstrate that RferOR1 is tuned to ferrugineol and ferrugineone and binds five other structurally related molecules. We reveal the lifetime expression of RferOR1, which correlates with adult mating success irrespective of age, a factor that could explain the wide distribution and spread of this pest. As palm weevils are challenging to control based on conventional methods, elucidation of the mechanisms of pheromone detection opens new routes for mating disruption and the early detection of this pest via the development of pheromone receptor-based biosensors.
SP - 2025
EP - 2039
TI - Pheromone receptor of the globally invasive quarantine pest of the palm tree, the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus)
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85102805866&doi=10.1111%2fmec.15874&partnerID=40&md5=4a41503265b6123dcb3df8893e3bd750
VL - 30
SN - 09621083 (ISSN)
ER -