# Dissecting the functional basis of butterfly-plant coevolution

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2022 · $2,500

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Antagonism between hosts and parasites is ubiquitous. The strong, reciprocal natural selection that results from
host-parasite interactions (coevolution) can have pervasive effects on the biology of both partners. Because
coevolution with parasites affects many facets of human health and disease, a robust understanding of the
coevolutionary process is a biomedical imperative.
Host-parasite coevolution often plays out at the molecular level. Functionally dissecting host-parasite interactions
therefore requires the capacity to genetically manipulate both partners, something that is not possible in human
systems. To fill this gap, researchers must look elsewhere on the tree of life. Plants and their insect herbivores
are the most common host-parasite systems in nature, providing experimentally tractable models to illuminate
general features of coevolution.
The proposed work will identify the genes and proteins that mediate coevolution between white butterflies
(Pieridae: Pierinae) and their Brassicales host plants (including Arabidopsis thaliana). Previous work on this
classic coevolutionary system has uncovered the genetic and functional bases of plant resistance to herbivorous
insects, but a complementary understanding from the parasite’s perspective is lacking. Aim 1 will employ
ancestral protein reconstruction and experimental biochemistry to identify the mutational events that enable
novel coevolutionary interactions. Aim 2 will use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to functionally dissect the
butterfly genes mediating coevolution with Arabidopsis plants, enabled by a recent GWAS that identified
intriguing candidate loci. Finally, Aim 3 will use population genomic and comparative genomic methods to
characterize how alternative modes of coevolution shape the fate of genetic variants that determine parasite
success. This work will result in a functionally validated, experimentally tractable model of host-parasite
coevolution.
Together, these projects will contribute to postdoctoral training at the interface of evolutionary genomics,
functional genetics, and experimental biochemistry. New skills and independence gained through this training
will facilitate the transition to a research career in evolutionary genomics. The University of Chicago is an
exceptional setting to pursue this work due to the University’s strength across the biological sciences, expansive
resources, and the particular expertise of co-sponsors and local collaborators.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10596343
- **Project number:** 3F32GM136061-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy Kevin O'Connor
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $2,500
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-03-09 → 2023-03-08

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10596343

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10596343, Dissecting the functional basis of butterfly-plant coevolution (3F32GM136061-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10596343. Licensed CC0.

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