A Comparative Study on the Microbial Communities of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Red Palm Weevil)-Infected and Healthy Palm Trees

Abstract Several studies have investigated palm trees’ microbiota infected with red weevil (RPW) ( Rhynchophorus ferrugineus ), the major pest of trees. This study compared microbial communities and uninfected trees in Hail region, Northern Saudi Arabia, determined by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing Illumina MiSeq. The results indicated that taxonomic diversity variation was higher for tree trunk than healthy trunk. Soil samples from vicinity did not a significant bacterial diversity. Myxococcota, Acidobacteriota , Firmicutes were dominant phyla RPW-infected trunk, Pseudomonadaceae most prominent family. is first report on characterization microbiome.