How butterflies acquired a taste for cabbage: Unravelling the role of tarsal taste receptors in the co-evolution of Pierid butterflies and their Brassicales host plants

To address the questions raised above, I designed three work packages (WP), in which I will combine molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral techniques : First I will explore the evolutionary patterns of GRs and the host-acceptance in Pierids. Following the selection of candidate GR genes, I will test different GLS compounds against the candidate GRs in a Pieris GR-based biochip. Subsequently, I will further confirm the in vitro results by implementing in vivo behavioral tests of GLSs on adult Crispr/Cas9 knock-out mutant lines of Pieris species.