Cell Division Flashcards
Cancer cells
start out as normal body cells,
undergo genetic mutations,
lose the ability to control the tempo of their own division, and
run amok, causing disease.
In a healthy body, cell division allows for
growth,
the replacement of damaged cells, and
development from an embryo into an adult.
In sexually reproducing organisms,
eggs and sperm result from
mitosis and
meiosis.
Cell division
is reproduction at the cellular level,
requires the duplication of chromosomes, and
sorts new sets of chromosomes into resulting pair of daughter cells.
Cell division is used
for reproduction of single-celled organisms,
growth of multicellular organisms from a fertilized egg into an adult,
repair and replacement of cells, and
sperm and egg production.
Living organisms reproduce by two methods.
Asexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction
produces offspring that are identical to the original cell or organism and
involves inheritance of all genes from one parent.
Sexual reproduction
produces offspring that are similar to the parents, but show variations in traits and
involves inheritance of unique sets of genes from two parents.
Prokaryotes
reproduce by binary fission (“dividing in half”).
The chromosome of a prokaryote is
a singular circular DNA molecule associated with proteins and
much smaller than those of eukaryotes.
Binary fission of a prokaryote occurs in three stages:
duplication of the chromosome and separation of the copies,
continued elongation of the cell and movement of the copies to opposite ends, and
division into two daughter cells.
Eukaryotic cells
are more complex and larger than prokaryotic cells,
have more genes, and
store most of their genes on multiple chromosomes within the nucleus.
Eukaryotic chromosomes are composed of chromatin
onsisting of
one long DNA molecule and
proteins that help maintain the chromosome structure and control the activity of its genes.
To prepare for division, the chromatin becomes highly compact and
visible with a microscope.
Before a eukaryotic cell begins to divide
it duplicates all of its chromosomes, resulting in
two copies called sister chromatids
joined together by a narrowed “waist” called the centromere.
When a cell divides, the sister chromatids
separate from each other, now called chromosomes, and
sort into separate daughter cells.
The cell cycle
is an ordered sequence of events that extends
from the time a cell is first formed from a dividing parent cell
until its own division.
The cell cycle consists of two stages, characterized as follows:
Interphase: duplication of cell contents G1—growth, (overall cell and organelles) S—duplication of chromosomes (DNA synthesis) G2—growth, (make proteins for division) Mitotic phase: division Mitosis Karyokinesis—division of the nucleus Cytokinesis—division of cytoplasm
Mitosis progresses through a series of stages:
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Cytokinesis begins in anaphase and ends in telophase.
A mitotic spindle is
required to divide the chromosomes, composed of microtubules, and produced by centrosomes, structures in the cytoplasm that organize microtubule arrangement and contain a pair of centrioles.
Interphase
The cytoplasmic contents double,
two centrosomes form,
chromosomes duplicate in the nucleus during the S phase, and
nucleoli, sites of ribosome assembly, are visible.
Prophase
In the cytoplasm microtubules begin to emerge from centrosomes, forming the spindle.
In the nucleus
chromosomes coil and become compact and
nucleoli disappear.
Metaphase
The mitotic spindle is fully formed.
Chromosomes align at the cell equator.
Anaphase
Sister chromatids separate at the centromeres.
Daughter chromosomes are moved to opposite poles of the cell