Testing hypotheses of a coevolutionary key innovation reveals a complex suite of traits involved in defusing the mustard oil bomb


 Coevolutionary interactions are responsible for much of the Earth’s biodiversity, with key innovations driving speciation bursts on both sides of the interaction. One persistent question is whether macroevolutionary traits identified as key innovations accurately predict functional performance and selection dynamics within species, as this necessitates characterizing their function, investigating their fitness consequences, and exploring the selection dynamics acting upon them. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9 mediating nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) in the butterfly species
 Pieris brassicae
 to knock out and directly assess the function and fitness impacts of nitrile specifier protein (
 NSP
 ) and major allergen (
 MA
 ). These are two closely related genes that facilitate glucosinolate (GSL) detoxification capacity, which is a key innovation in mustard feeding Pierinae butterflies. We find
 NSP
 and
 MA
 are both required for survival on plants containing GSLs, with expression differences arising in response to variable GSL profiles, concordant with detoxification performance. Importantly, this concordance was only observed when using natural host plants, likely reflecting the complexity of how these enzymes interact with natural plant variation in GSLs and myrosinases. Finally, signatures of positive selection for
 NSP
 and
 MA
 were detected across
 Pieris
 species, consistent with these genes’ importance in recent coevolutionary interactions. Thus, the war between these butterflies and their host plants involves more than the mere presence of chemical defenses and detoxification mechanisms, as their regulation and activation represent key components of complex interactions. We find that inclusion of these dynamics, in ecologically relevant assays, is necessary for coevolutionary insights in this system and likely others.
