Antennal transcriptome analysis of chemosensory gene families in tree killing bark beetles, Ips typographus and Dendroctonus ponderosae

The European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, and the North American mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), are severe pests of coniferous forests. Bark beetle mass-attacks are coordinated by means of aggregation pheromones, whereas odorants from host and non-host trees modulate the pheromone response. Thus, the bark beetle olfactory sense is of upmost importance for fitness, however, information on the molecular players of olfactory detection has been lacking in bark beetles and is limited in Coleoptera. Here we performed next-generation sequencing to analyze antennal transcriptomes of I. typographus and D. ponderosae, with the aim to identify members of the major chemosensory multigene families.