Figure 5

Summary of the predicted pathway in olive anthers. The sense (green) and antisense (pink) transcripts are coded by genes located at two distinct loci. The sense transcripts are transcribed from locus 1, and the pre-mRNA is not spliced, whereas the antisense transcripts are transcribed from locus 2, and the pre-mRNA can undergo two different splicing events to produce a molecule lacking the small intron or both introns. These splicing variant events are possible because the nucleotide sequences the introns of the antisense transcripts are flanked by the splice donor (GU) and acceptor (AG) sites, which are not present in the sense transcript nucleotide sequences. The interaction between the sense and antisense transcripts can result in two different secondary structures, consisting of one single bulge, when only the small intron is excised, and two bulges, when both introns are excised. The introns are indicated in light brown and the exons in light blue.