The nAChRα2 host intron that normally includes mir-1017 is constitutively retained in TI{TI}mir-1017KO flies (a single loxP site replaces part of mir-1017 in these flies). Retention of the intron results in a premature stop codon that is predicted to truncate the nAChRα2 protein.
The 8bp miRNA seed sequence of the mir-1017 miRtron has been deleted. A single loxP site is present at the site of the deletion. The expression of the nAChRα2 host gene appears unaffected (assayed by quantitative PCR).