Chapter 12-13 Test Vocab Flashcards
An ordered sequence of events in the life of a cell, from its origin in the division of a parent cell until its own division into two. The eukaryotic sequence is composed of interphase (including G1, S, and G2 subphases) and M phase (including mitosis and cytokinesis).
Cell Cycle
The genetic material of an organism or virus; the complete complement of an organism’s or virus’s genes along with its noncoding nucleic acid sequences.
Genome
A cellular structure carrying genetic material, found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Each consists of one very long DNA molecule and associated proteins.
Chromosome
The complex of DNA and proteins that makes up eukaryotic chromosomes. When the cell is not dividing, it exists in its dispersed form, as a mass of very long, thin fibers that are not visible with a light microscope.
Chromatin
Any cell in a multicellular organism except a sperm or egg or their precursors.
Somatic Cell
A haploid reproductive cell, such as an egg or a sperm. They unite during sexual reproduction to produce a diploid zygote.
Gametes
A cell containing only one set of chromosomes (n).
Haploid
A cell containing two sets of chromosomes (2n), one set inherited from each parent.
Diploid
Two copies of a duplicated chromosome attached to each other by proteins at the centromere and, sometimes, along the arms. While joined, they make up one chromosome. They are eventually separated during mitosis or meiosis II.
Sister Chromatids
In a duplicated chromosome, the region on each sister chromatid where they are most closely attached to each other by proteins that bind to specific DNA sequences; this close attachment causes a constriction in the condensed chromosome. (An uncondensed, unduplicated chromosome has one of these, identified by its DNA sequence.)
Centromere
A process of nuclear division in eukaryotic cells conventionally divided into five stages: prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. It conserves chromosome number by allocating replicated chromosomes equally to each of the daughter nuclei.
Mitosis
The division of the cytoplasm to form two separate daughter cells immediately after mitosis, meiosis I, or meiosis II.
Cytokinesis
The phase of the cell cycle that includes mitosis and cytokinesis.
Mitotic (M) Phase
An assemblage of microtubules and associated proteins that is involved in the movement of chromosomes during mitosis.
Mitotic Spindle
A structure present in the cytoplasm of animal cells that functions as a microtubule-organizing center and is important during cell division. It has two centrioles.
Centrosome
Hollow rods composed of tubulin proteins that make up part of the cytoskeleton in all eukaryotic cells and are found in cilia and flagella.
Microtubules
A radial array of short microtubules that extends from each centrosome toward the plasma membrane in an animal cell undergoing mitosis.
Aster
A structure of proteins attached to the centromere that links each sister chromatid to the mitotic spindle.
Kinetochore
An imaginary structure located at a plane midway between the two poles of a cell in metaphase on which the centromeres of all the duplicated chromosomes are located.
Metaphase Plate
The process of cytokinesis in animal cells, characterized by pinching of the plasma membrane.
Cleavage
The first sign of cleavage in an animal cell; a shallow groove around the cell in the cell surface near the old metaphase plate.
Cleavage Furrow