Mitosis recap

Question 1

Prophase:

Answer 1

Chromatin condenses and forms chromosomes.
Nucleolus disappears.
Nuclear membrane starts to break down.
Centrosomes, each with a pair of centrioles move apart to the opposite poles, forming a mitotic spindle between them.

Question 2

Metaphase:

Answer 2

Microtubules of the mitotic spindle interact with chromosomes.
This causes the chromosomes to move to the middle of the cell, to the equatorial plane.
Sister chromatids are held at the centromere, conforming the presence of protein structures called kinetochore at the surface.
The kinetochore holds the chromosomes and attaches them to the spindle.

Question 3

Anaphase:

Answer 3

Sister chromatids separate at the kinetochores and the daughter chromosomes along with the divided centromere move towards the opposite poles, as the microtubules shortens.

The poles of the spindle move apart and help to separate the chromosomes.
As the chromosomes separates completely into two sets, one at each pole, anaphase is completed.

Question 4

Telophase:

Answer 4

Daughter chromosomes arrive at the pole and the chromatin starts to de-coil. Nuclei forms along with the nucleoli. This triggers the reparation of the nuclear membrane.

Question 5

Cytokinesis:

Answer 5

Partition of the cytoplasm. In animals the cleavage furrow fears in the plasma membrane which deepens and divides cytoplasm into two daughter cells, each containing a nucleus.

The action of contractile ring of overlapping actin and myosin filaments forms the cleavage furrow.

In plants new cell wall formation is triggered in the center of the cell by the formation of a cell plate. The cell plate grows outwards, till it meets the existing wall resulting into two daughter cells.