A Correlation Between Growth and Rna Synthesis in the Mouse Oocyte

The pattern of oocyte growth in relation to follicular growth is similar in the ovaries of many different mammalian species (Brambell, 1928, 1956; Mandl & Zuckerman, 1952; Lintern-Moore, Peters, Moore & Faber, 1974). There are two distinct and characteristic developmental phases. In the first phase, the oocyte and its follicle undergo coincident growth (Phase A). Oocyte growth then declines to zero, but follicular growth continues (Phase B), the final, preovulatory size being related to body weight (Brambell, 1956). In all of the species studied, e.g. bats, shrews, bank vole, mouse, rat, rabbit, ferret, Ericulus (the Madagascan hedgehog), pig, goat, spotted hyaena, rhesus monkey, baboon and man, oocyte size is positively and linearly correlated with follicle size during Phase A of growth (Brambell, 1956; Lintern-Moore et al., 1974). Similarly, oocyte nuclear size is positively and linearly correlated with oocyte