The date palm has been connected to the population of many countries for centuries, serving both as a key food source, crafts, professions, social and cultural traditions. Because of that, date palm-related knowledge, skills, tradition, and practices were inscribed in 2019 on the representative list of UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage of Humanity. However, palm tree cultivation is threatened by the global expansion of an invasive, quarantine insect pest that infests these trees; the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, it's number one enemy.
The success of this species results in part in its efficient chemical ecology, and in particular, its pheromonal communication. This species uses an aggregation pheromone produced by males and that attracts both males and females for feeding and mating, resulting in a mass attack of the trees. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of pheromone detection may help optimizing trapping solutions and identifying new targets for this pest control. In this context, we report here the identification and functional characterization of the first RPW pheromone receptor by a combination of omics, loss-of-function, and heterologous expression approaches.
The identification of this pheromone receptor opens up new perspectives for the RPW control. First, it appears to be a promising target for the design of receptor agonists/antagonists/blockers, disturbing the weevil pheromone detection and the associated behavior. Second, as this receptor represents an excellent RPW pheromone detector, it will be used to develop a new generation of bioinspired sensors based on natural protein detectors. Such sensors will allow early detection of the pest, a pivotal step to prevent invasion.