Identification and tissue expression profiling of odorant binding protein genes in the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus

Background The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is a lethal pest of the palms. The identification of odorant binding protein (OBP) genes will be helpful for clarifing the mechanism of odorant detection of this pest. By sequencing the full length cDNA library of its antenne, 11 OBP genes (RferOBP1-11) were identified. Findings The result showed RferOBP1-7 and RferOBP8-11 belonged to the minus-C and classic family, respectively qPCR revealed that RferOBP1-10 highly transcribed in the antennae, of which RferOBP1, RferOBP4, RferOBP8 and RferOBP10 were obviously male-biased expression. RferOBP7 and RferOBP11 exhibited highly expression in female head and male thorax. RferOBP2, RferOBP5 and RferOBP6 were highly expressed in the female thorax, leg and abdomen respectively. Conclusions The results paved the way towards a future understanding of the olfaction in this species.