Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. Its primary function is packaging long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in reinforcing the DNA during cell division, preventing DNA damage, and regulating gene expression and DNA replication. During mitosis and meiosis, chromatin facilitates proper segregation of the chromosomes in anaphase; the characteristic shapes of chromosomes visible during this stage are the result of DNA being coiled into highly condensed chromatin.
The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA and some of its organelles, and subsequently the partitioning of its cytoplasm and other components into two daughter cells in a process called cell division.
Meiosis is a special type of cell division in sexually-reproducing organisms used to produce the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells with only one copy of each chromosome (haploid). Additionally, prior to the division, genetic material from the paternal and maternal copies of each chromosome is crossed over, creating new combinations of code on each chromosome. Later on, during fertilisation, the haploid cells produced by meiosis from a male and female will fuse to create a cell with two copies of each chromosome again, the zygote.
In cell biology, mitosis is a part of the cell cycle when replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Cell division gives rise to genetically identical cells in which the number of chromosomes is maintained. In general, mitosis is preceded by the S stage of interphase and is often accompanied or followed by cytokinesis, which divides the cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two new cells containing roughly equal shares of these cellular components. Mitosis and cytokinesis together define the mitotic (M) phase of an animal cell cycle—the division of the mother cell into two daughter cells genetically identical to each other.
Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle. In eukaryotes, there are two distinct types of cell division: a vegetative division, whereby each daughter cell is genetically identical to the parent cell (mitosis), and a reproductive cell division, whereby the number of chromosomes in the daughter cells is reduced by half to produce haploid gametes (meiosis). Meiosis results in four haploid daughter cells by undergoing one round of DNA replication followed by two divisions. Homologous chromosomes are separated in the first division, and sister chromatids are separated in the second division. Both of these cell division cycles are used in the process of sexual reproduction at some point in their life cycle. Both are believed to be present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor.
Prophase (from the Greek πρό, "before" and φάσις, "stage") is the first stage of cell division in both mitosis and meiosis. Beginning after interphase, DNA has already been replicated when the cell enters prophase. The main occurrences in prophase are the condensation of the chromatin and the disappearance of the nucleolus.
In cell biology, the spindle apparatus refers to the cytoskeletal structure of eukaryotic cells that forms during cell division to separate sister chromatids between daughter cells. It is referred to as the mitotic spindle during mitosis, a process that produces genetically identical daughter cells, or the meiotic spindle during meiosis, a process that produces gametes with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell.
Telophase is the final stage in both meiosis and mitosis in a eukaryotic cell. During telophase, the effects of prophase and prometaphase are reversed. As chromosomes reach the cell poles, a nuclear envelope is re-assembled around each set of chromatids, the nucleoli reappear, and chromosomes begin to decondense back into the expanded chromatin that is present during interphase. The mitotic spindle is disassembled and remaining spindle microtubules are depolymerized. Telophase accounts for approximately 2% of the cell cycle's duration.
The term cell growth is used in the contexts of biological cell development and cell division (reproduction). When used in the context of cell development, the term refers to increase in cytoplasmic and organelle volume, as well as increase in genetic material following the replication during S phase. This is not to be confused with growth in the context of cell division, referred to as proliferation, where a cell, known as the "mother cell", grows and divides to produce two "daughter cells".
Metaphase is a stage of mitosis in the eukaryotic cell cycle in which chromosomes are at their second-most condensed and coiled stage. These chromosomes, carrying genetic information, align in the equator of the cell before being separated into each of the two daughter cells. Metaphase accounts for approximately 4% of the cell cycle's duration. Preceded by events in prometaphase and followed by anaphase, microtubules formed in prophase have already found and attached themselves to kinetochores in metaphase.
Cyclin is a family of proteins that controls the progression of a cell through the cell cycle by activating cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) enzymes or group of enzymes required for synthesis of cell cycle.
Maturation-promoting factor (abbreviated MPF, also called mitosis-promoting factor or M-Phase-promoting factor) is the cyclin-Cdk complex that was discovered first in frog eggs. It stimulates the mitotic and meiotic phases of the cell cycle. MPF promotes the entrance into mitosis (the M phase) from the G2 phase by phosphorylating multiple proteins needed during mitosis. MPF is activated at the end of G2 by a phosphatase, which removes an inhibitory phosphate group added earlier.
G2 phase, or Gap 2 phase, is the third subphase of interphase in the cell cycle directly preceding mitosis. It follows the successful completion of S phase, during which the cell’s DNA is replicated. G2 phase ends with the onset of prophase, the first phase of mitosis in which the cell’s chromatin condenses into chromosomes.
Bookmarking refers to a potential mechanism of transmission of gene expression programs through cell division.
The G1/S transition is a stage in the cell cycle at the boundary between the G1 phase, in which the cell grows, and the S phase, during which DNA is replicated. It is governed by cell cycle checkpoints to ensure cell cycle integrity and the subsequent S phase can pause in response to improperly or partially replicated DNA. During this transition the cell makes decisions to become quiescent, differentiate, make DNA repairs, or proliferate based on environmental cues and molecular signaling inputs. The G1/S transition occurs late in G1 and the absence or improper application of this highly regulated check point can lead to cellular transformation and disease states such as cancer
The parasexual cycle, a process peculiar to fungi and single-celled organisms, is a nonsexual mechanism of parasexuality for transferring genetic material without meiosis or the development of sexual structures. It was first described by Italian geneticist Guido Pontecorvo in 1956 during studies on Aspergillus nidulans. A parasexual cycle is initiated by the fusion of hyphae (anastomosis) during which nuclei and other cytoplasmic components occupy the same cell. Fusion of the unlike nuclei in the cell of the heterokaryon results in formation of a diploid nucleus (karyogamy), which is believed to be unstable and can produce segregants by recombination involving mitotic crossing-over and haploidization. Mitotic crossing-over can lead to the exchange of genes on chromosomes; while haploidization probably involves mitotic nondisjunctions which randomly reassort the chromosomes and result in the production of aneuploid and haploid cells. Like a sexual cycle, parasexuality gives the species the opportunity to recombine the genome and produce new genotypes in their offspring. Unlike a sexual cycle, the process lacks coordination and is exclusively mitotic.
Mitotic catastrophe refers to a mechanism of delayed mitosis-linked cell death, a sequence of events resulting from premature or inappropriate entry of cells into mitosis that can be caused by chemical or physical stresses. Mitotic catastrophe is unrelated to programmed cell death or apoptosis and is observed in cells lacking functional apoptotic pathways. It has been observed following delayed DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation. It can also be triggered by agents influencing the stability of microtubule spindles, various anticancer drugs and mitotic failure caused by defective cell cycle checkpoints. Mitotic catastrophe is the primary mechanism underlying reproductive cell death in cancer cells treated with ionizing radiation.
Amitosis, also called 'karyostenosis' or direct cell division or binary fission. It is cell proliferation that does not occur by mitosis, the mechanism usually identified as essential for cell division in eukaryotes. The polyploid macronucleus found in ciliates divides amitotically. While normal mitosis results in a precise division of parental alleles, amitosis results in a random distribution of parental alleles. Ploidy levels of >1000 in some species means both parental alleles can be maintained over many generations, while species with fewer numbers of each chromosome will tend to become homozygous for one or the other parental allele through a process known as phenotypic or allelic assortment.
Chromatin bridge is a mitotic occurrence that forms when telomeres of sister chromatids fuse together and fail to completely segregate into their respective daughter cells. Because this event is most prevalent during anaphase, the term anaphase bridge is often used as a substitute. After the formation of individual daughter cells, the DNA bridge connecting homologous chromosomes remains fixed. As the daughter cells exit mitosis and re-enter interphase, the chromatin bridge becomes known as an interphase bridge. These phenomena are usually visualized using the laboratory techniques of staining and fluorescence microscopy.
Vampyrella is a genus of amoebae belonging to the vampyrellid cercozoans usually ranging from 30-60 um. Members of the genus alternate between two life stages: a free-living trophozoite stage and a cyst stage in which mitosis occurs. This taxon has received a great deal of attention due to their peculiar feeding behaviour of perforating the cell wall of algal cells and drawing out the contents for nourishment.
