Objective: Factors such as hormonal alterations and culture conditions can have a profound effect on oocyte quality and subsequently embryo development. Numerous efforts to identify candidate genes for the developmental competence of bovine oocytes have been made by employing different strategies. Gene expression techniques have become a powerful tool to analyze the relative abundance of transcripts related to quality of oocytes. In the present study, the relationship between mRNA expression profiles of Cyclin B, cell division control (CDC2), extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK2) and c-mos genes and time of in vitro culture of buffalo oocytes was evaluated. Methodology and results: To carry out this study 1899 Cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) aspirated from 709 buffalo ovaries were used. The results indicated that the relative abundance of Cyclin B, CDC2, ERK2 and c-mos was affected by the maturation time and meiotic progression. The expression level of all genes was significantly higher in buffalo oocytes after collection and gradually decreased after in vitro culture. Conclusion and application of findings: The time of culture was shown to regulate the mRNA translation to synthesize the maturation proteins which stimulate the buffalo oocytes to achieve meiotic progression up to the Metaphase II (MII) stage.