The effect of nuclear stages during IVM on the survival of vitrified-warmed bovine oocytes was investigated. Oocytes with compact cumulus cells were cultured for 0, 6, 12 and 24 h in TCM199 supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS) in 3% CO2 in air. The oocytes were first exposed to 20% ethylene glycol solution and were subjected to vitrification in a solution containing 40% ethylene glycol, 18% Ficoll-70 and 0.3 M sucrose. After warming in 20 degrees C water, oocytes which had been vitrified at less than 24-h of IVM were again cultured to complete the 24-h of IVM period. Oocytes were then incubated with frozen-thawed spermatozoa in Brackett and Oliphant (BO) medium containing 60 micrograms/ml heparin and 0.25% BSA for 20 h. In vitro fertilization rates of oocytes vitrified-warmed at 0, 6, 12 and 24-h IVM were 75.2, 68.0, 82.0 and 72.4%, respectively, comparable to the rates for unvitrified control oocytes (80.6%). A higher incidence of polyspermic fertilization was observed in oocytes vitrified at 24-h IVM (44.9 vs 22.6% in the control group, P < 0.05). Vitrification of oocytes at 12-h IVM seemed to be better than that of other IVM groups, since the normal fertilization rate of all treated oocytes was the highest (36.0%) among the vitrification groups. Developmental competence of the oocytes following vitrification and in vitro fertilization (12-h IVM group) was examined by cell-free culture of presumptive zygotes up to 9 d in modified synthetic oviduct fluid (mSOF) in 5% CO2, 5% O2 and 90% N2. The cleavage rate of zygotes from vitrified oocytes 48 h after insemination was 29.8%, which was lower than that of the control group (57.0%, P < 0.05). Development to blastocysts from the vitrified oocytes (4.8%) was much lower than that of the control group (27.0%, P < 0.05). These results indicate that cryopreservation of bovine oocytes by vitrification may be affected by their maturation stage in vitro, and that developmental competence to blastocysts of cleaved oocytes following vitrification may be impaired compared with unvitrified control oocytes.