Figure 2.

The sex of the tassel florets depends on the translation of the IDS1 transcript. In normal male florets, IDS1 mRNA is not translated because of the presence of the ts4 miRNA (miRNA172). If an IDS1 protein is produced, either as a result of a loss-of-function mutation in the ts4 gene or a mutation in the miRNA-binding site in ids1 (which has occurred in the mutant Ts6), the floret is female.