Identification and expression profiling of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes from a destructive pest of palm trees, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus

Abstract

Plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) from insects were recently identified as a multigene family of proteins that consist primarily of glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and carbohydrate esterases (CEs) and play essential roles in the degradation of the cellulose/hemicellulose/pectin network in the invaded host plant. Here we applied transcriptomic and degenerate PCR approaches to identify the PCWDEs from a destructive pest of palm trees, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, followed by a gut-specific and stage-specific differential expression analysis. We identified a total of 27 transcripts encoding GH family members and three transcripts of the CE family with cellulase, hemicellulase and pectinase activities. We also identified two GH9 candidates, which have not previously been reported from Curculionidae. The gut-specific quantitative expression analysis identified key cellulases, hemicellulases and pectinases from R. ferrugineus. The expression analysis revealed a pectin methylesterase, RferCE8u02, and a cellulase, GH45c34485, which showed the highest gut enriched expression. Comparison of PCWDE expression patterns revealed that cellulases and pectinases are significantly upregulated in the adult stages, and we observed specific high expression of the hemicellulase RferGH16c4170. Overall, our study revealed the potential of PCWDEs from R. ferrugineus, which may be useful in biotechnological applications and may represent new tools in R. ferrugineus pest management strategies.

Silencing the Odorant Binding Protein RferOBP1768 Reduces the Strong Preference of Palm Weevil for the Major Aggregation Pheromone Compound Ferrugineol

“…RPW collections were performed with the direct consent of a cooperating land owner [Saudi Arabia, Al-Kharj region (24.1500°N, 47.3000°E)] in the year 2009. The collected RPWs were maintained in our laboratory on sugarcane stems at 28–30°C with a photoperiod of 18 h:6 h (light: dark), as described previously (Antony et al, 2016 , 2017 ).…”

Expression Profiling of Plant Cell Wall-Degrading Enzyme Genes in Eucryptorrhynchus scrobiculatus Midgut

“…EcrGH28-1, EcrGH28-2, and EcrGH28-3 belong to the active clade A (Figure 5). T castaneum, A. japonica, A. longipennis, and R. ferrugineus (Antony et al, 2017); D. ponderosae, T. castaneum, A. glabripennis, and A. planipennis (McKenna et al, 2016); D. virgifera (Eyun et al, 2014); G. viridula, C. tremula, and L decemlineata (Pauchet et al, 2010); P. cochleariae (Roy et al, 2012); S. oryzae (Pauchet et al, 2010). Supplementary Table S5.…”

“…Plant cell walls are the most abundant and useful source of biomass on Earth. Coleoptera insects can spread into most habitats worldwide and have become the most species-rich insect order on Earth owing to their mostly herbivorous nature (digesting plant cell walls as nutrients) (Pauchet et al, 2010;Schuman and Baldwin, 2016;Antony et al, 2017). Herbivorous insects are thought to rely on gut microorganisms to digest plant cell walls until the endogenous cellulase genes from termites are identified (Watanabe et al, 1998;Calderón-Cortés et al, 2012).…”

“…The degradation of plant cell walls by phytophagous insects is the primary requirement for utilizing host plants (Antony et al, 2017). Plant cell wall polysaccharides mainly consist of cellulose as well as hemicellulose and pectin (Cosgrove, 2005), and PCWDEs include cellulase, hemicellulase, and pectinase (Juge, 2006).…”

“…Plant cell wall polysaccharides mainly consist of cellulose as well as hemicellulose and pectin (Cosgrove, 2005), and PCWDEs include cellulase, hemicellulase, and pectinase (Juge, 2006). Different hydrolase families of PCWDEs have been identified in many insect species (Watanabe et al, 1998;Calderón-Cortés et al, 2012), and these digestive enzymes play key roles in insect feeding diversity (Pauchet et al, 2010;Watanabe and Tokuda, 2010;Antony et al, 2017). Previous reports indicated that insect PCWDEs include three carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), namely glycoside hydrolase (GH), carbohydrate esterase (CE), and polysaccharide lyase (PL) (Cantarel et al, 2009;Pauchet et al, 2010;Watanabe and Tokuda, 2010;Calderón-Cortés et al, 2012).…”