Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, 1791, Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a destructive pest of palms, rapidly extending its native geographical range and causing large economic losses worldwide. The present work describes isolation, identification, and bioinformatic analysis of antibacterial proteins and peptides from the immunized hemolymph of this beetle. In total, 17 different bactericidal or bacteriostatic compounds were isolated via a series of high-pressure liquid chromatography steps, and their partial amino acid sequences were determined by N-terminal sequencing or by mass spectrometry. The bioinformatic analysis of the results facilitated identification and description of corresponding nucleotide coding sequences for each peptide and protein, based on the recently published R. ferrugineus transcriptome database. The identified compounds are represented by several well-known bactericidal factors: two peptides similar to defensins, one cecropin-A1-like peptide, and one attacin-B-like protein. Interestingly, we have also identified some unexpected compounds comprising five isoforms of pheromone-binding proteins as well as seven isoforms of odorant-binding proteins. The particular role of these factors in insect response to bacterial infection needs further investigation.

中文翻译：

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红掌象鼻蓝藻（Rhychophorus ferrugineus）免疫血淋巴中的抗菌蛋白和多肽的分离，鉴定和生物信息学分析

红棕榈象鼻虫（Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier，1791，鞘翅目：Curculionidae）是一种破坏性的棕榈树害虫，迅速扩大了其本国的地理范围，并在全球范围内造成了巨大的经济损失。本工作描述了从甲虫的免疫血淋巴中分离，鉴定和抗菌蛋白和肽的生物信息学分析。总共通过一系列高压液相色谱步骤分离了17种不同的杀菌或抑菌化合物，并通过N端测序或质谱法确定了其部分氨基酸序列。根据最近发表的结果，对结果进行生物信息学分析有助于鉴定和描述每种肽和蛋白质的相应核苷酸编码序列R. ferrugineus转录组数据库。鉴定出的化合物由几种众所周知的杀菌因子代表：类似于防御素的两种肽，一种天蚕素A1样肽和一种连接素B样蛋白。有趣的是，我们还鉴定了一些出乎意料的化合物，其中包括信息素结合蛋白的五个同工型以及气味剂结合蛋白的七个同工型。这些因素在昆虫对细菌感染的反应中的特殊作用有待进一步研究。