DCL1 (an abbreviation of Dicer-like 1) is a gene in plants that codes for the DCL1 protein, a ribonuclease III enzyme involved in processing microRNA (miRNA). Although DCL1 is named for its homology with the metazoan protein Dicer, its role in miRNA biogenesis is somewhat different, due to substantial differences in miRNA maturation processes between plants and animals. Unlike Dicer, DCL1 is localized to the cell nucleus, where it initiates miRNA processing as the catalytic component of the so-called Dicing complex, which also contains , a double-stranded RNA binding protein, and a zinc-finger protein known as SE or . Within the nucleus, Dicing complexes co-localize in Dicing bodies or D-bodies. In plants, DCL1 is responsible both for processing a primary miRNA to a pre-miRNA, and for then