The U6 snRNA m6A Methyltransferase METTL16 is required for accurate and efficient splicing of Drosophila pre-mRNAs

Subsequent staining assays revealed that Drosophila Mettl16 is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein, and its depletion does not affect the translational level in flies. Loss of Mettl16 results in multiple developmental phenotypes, including developmental delay, reduced locomotor activity, flightlessness, and sterility.

Through MeRIP-seq and splicing analyses, we found that Mettl16 mediates m6A methylation of only a small subset of mRNAs. The reduced m6A modification level on its conserved methylation substrate U6 snRNA induces significant global changes in splicing events