Dramatically different mutant phenotypes usually reflect mutations in different genes, but this is not necessarily so, especially when microRNA regulation is involved. A beautiful example of this now comes from the discovery of the maize microRNA tasselseed4 and its target ids1/Tasselseed6, which uncovers a new facet in the control of inflorescence branching and sex determination in flowers.
- Andrea Gallavotti
- Robert J Schmidt
