The genome of pest Rhynchophorus ferrugineus reveals gene families important at the plant-beetle interface. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, infests palm plantations, leading to large financial losses and soil erosion. Pest-host interactions are poorly understood in R. ferrugineus, but the analysis of genetic diversity and pest origins will help advance efforts to eradicate this pest. We sequenced the genome of R. ferrugineus using a combination of paired-end Illumina sequencing (150bp), Oxford Nanopore long reads, 10X Genomics and synteny analysis to produce an assembly with a scaffold N50 of ~60Mb. Structural variations showed duplication of detoxifying and insecticide resistance genes (e.g., glutathione S-transferase, P450, Rdl). Furthermore, the evolution of gene families identified those under positive selection including one glycosyl hydrolase (GH16) gene family, which appears to result from horizontal gene transfer. This genome will be a valuable resource to understand insect evolution and behavior and to allow the genetic modification of key genes that will help control this pest.

published proceedings

  • Commun Biol

altmetric score

  • 3.75

author list (cited authors)

  • Hazzouri, K. M., Sudalaimuthuasari, N., Kundu, B., Nelson, D., Al-Deeb, M. A., Le Mansour, A., ... Amiri, K.

citation count

  • 30

complete list of authors

  • Hazzouri, Khaled Michel||Sudalaimuthuasari, Naganeeswaran||Kundu, Biduth||Nelson, David||Al-Deeb, Mohammad Ali||Le Mansour, Alain||Spencer, Johnston J||Desplan, Claude||Amiri, Khaled MA

publication date

  • June 2020