Tale of the human oocyte Poly(A) tail

OBJECTIVE: Resumption of meiosis in oocytes of all species studied to date is marked by a virtual cessation of transcription and approximately 50% of the polyadenylated RNA is degraded or deadenylated to a stable form and readenylated when required later in development. Oocytes that fail to accumulate and regulate the RNA transcribed during development and maturation will result in an incorrect temporal utilization of maternal message and would be expected to exhibit abnormal preimplantation development.