Accumulation of individual pA+ RNAs during oogenesis of Xenopus laevis.

RNA metabolism during amphibian oogenesis has been investigated by the analysis of individual cDNA cloned sequences. Two cDNA clone libraries were constructed from the pA+ RNA of Xenopus ovary and of tadpole. The accumulation of RNAs complementary to individual clones was examined during oogenesis by isolating RNA from oocytes of different stages. There are only two patterns of accumulation during oogenesis. Mitochondrial mRNA sequences accumulate throughout all the stages of oogenesis, whereas all other sequences detected cease accumulation early in oogenesis and remain at a constant steady state level for the remainder of oocyte development. In the earliest stages examined, the individual RNAs are already present at approximately 1/4 their final level, and the subsequent increase of all sequences appears to be coordinant. These basic observations were confirmed by colony screening approximately 500 clones. The pattern of RNA accumulation observed is significant, because it had been determined that the total steady state pA+ RNA levels in the oocyte also ceased to increase at the same stage in oogenesis in which each individual sequenced reached a plateau level. In addition, lampbrush chromosomes, which have traditionally been thought to be the site of oocyte pA+ RNA synthesis, are maximally active after the stage in which all pA+ RNAs seem to have reached their final level of accumulation.