Roles for Drosophila cap1 2′-O-ribose methyltransferase in the small RNA silencing pathway associated with Argonaute 2

Cap1 2′-O-ribose methyltransferase (CMTR1) modifies RNA transcripts containing the 7-methylguanosine cap via 2′-O-ribose methylation of the first transcribed nucleotide, yielding cap1 structures. However, the role of CMTR1 in small RNA-mediated gene silencing remains unknown. Here, we identified and characterized a Drosophila CMTR1 gene (dCMTR1) mutation. We found that the catalytic activity of dCMTR1 was involved in the biogenesis of small...