ALG-1, a microRNA argonaute, promotes vulva induction in C. elegans

Signaling by the LET-60 Ras GTPase/ MPK-1 Extracellular Regulated Kinase pathway specifies the vulva cell fate in <i>C. elegans</i> . The <i>let-7</i> miRNA family negatively regulates LET-60 Ras but other miRNAs can also modulate vulva induction. To determine the impact of globally reducing miRNA function on LET-60 Ras-mediated vulva induction we analyzed the effect of loss of the ALG-1 miRNA regulator on vulva development <i>.</i> Contrary to our expectations, we find that ALG-1 promotes vulva induction independently of LET-60 Ras. We found that the reduced vulva cell fate induction of <i>alg-1</i> deletion mutants could be due to delayed development of the vulva, or a requirement to maintain the competence of the uninduced precursor cells.