The mitotic cell cycle genes CDC 8, 9 and 21 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, together with the histone H2A gene, are transcribed discontinuously in meiosis. Message from all four genes initially declines in amount, then increases abruptly to reach maximal levels during premeiotic DNA synthesis before again declining. This response occurs only in meiotic cells; in asporogenous diploids the transcript simply declines in amount. In contrast, message from four genes with no known specific meiotic function (including the actin gene) shows the same profile in both sporogenous and asporogenous diploids. In mitotic cells the three CDC genes appear to be transcribed at the same time in the cell cycle, whereas in meiosis their transcripts accumulate with different kinetics, suggesting either that they have different turnover rates in meiotic cells or that the timing of their transcription is different.