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10.3390/life16071200
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Article

Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Diversity in the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia

by
Saleh S. Alhewairini
*,
Medhat Rehan
,
Mohamed I. Motawei
,
Mahmoud Alazzazy
and
Nagdy F. Abdel-Baky
*
Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture and Food, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Life 2026, 16(7), 1200; https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071200
Submission received: 3 June 2026 / Revised: 13 July 2026 / Accepted: 15 July 2026 / Published: 20 July 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution)
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Abstract

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is among the most destructive invasive pests of date palms worldwide. In this study, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) markers were analyzed in parallel to comparatively assess genetic diversity and haplotype variation in R. ferrugineus populations from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. Sequencing success rates reached 96.5% and 93.0% for COI and ITS, respectively. COI sequences exhibited very low nucleotide divergence among Qassim specimens (0.0–0.0077), indicating a highly conserved mitochondrial background and close phylogenetic similarity (p-distance = 0.0–0.0078) with an Egyptian reference haplotype (GU581319) and the reference R. ferrugineus mitochondrion (KT428893). In contrast, ITS analyses revealed substantially greater nuclear variation, identifying multiple haplotype groups with divergence levels of 10–19%. Haplotype diversity was higher in ITS (Hd = 0.876 ± 0.041) than in COI (Hd = 0.663 ± 0.068), while nucleotide diversity in ITS (π = 0.0387 ± 0.0013) was 36.9-fold greater than in COI (π = 0.00105 ± 0.00025; Z = 27.66, p < 0.001). Phylogenetic reconstruction showed greater population structuring in ITS than in COI. Integrated mitochondrial and nuclear markers improve genetic resolution and species identification in R. ferrugineus.
Keywords: red palm weevil; genetic diversity; COI; ITS; haplotypes; molecular markers; phylogenetic analysis; Integrated Pest Management (IPM); sustainability red palm weevil; genetic diversity; COI; ITS; haplotypes; molecular markers; phylogenetic analysis; Integrated Pest Management (IPM); sustainability
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MDPI and ACS Style

Alhewairini, S.S.; Rehan, M.; Motawei, M.I.; Alazzazy, M.; Abdel-Baky, N.F. Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Diversity in the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. Life 2026, 16, 1200. https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071200

AMA Style

Alhewairini SS, Rehan M, Motawei MI, Alazzazy M, Abdel-Baky NF. Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Diversity in the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. Life. 2026; 16(7):1200. https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071200

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alhewairini, Saleh S., Medhat Rehan, Mohamed I. Motawei, Mahmoud Alazzazy, and Nagdy F. Abdel-Baky. 2026. "Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Diversity in the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia" Life 16, no. 7: 1200. https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071200

APA Style

Alhewairini, S. S., Rehan, M., Motawei, M. I., Alazzazy, M., & Abdel-Baky, N. F. (2026). Mitochondrial and Nuclear Markers Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genetic Diversity in the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) from Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. Life, 16(7), 1200. https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071200

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