starter: summarising mitosis

Trade your cards with another person in the class to compare your
information add or change any detail if necessary

The Cell Cycle

MITOSIS (continued)
identify the stages of the cell cycle and what is occurring at
each stage
name and explain the events occurring during each stage of
mitosis
be able to recognise the stages from drawings and
photographs

DN
rep A is
lic
ate
d

The Cell
Cycle

Proteins from
which cell
organelles are
synthesised
and produced

d
n
a
w
o y d
gr erg ase
s
le en cre
l
ne a nd i n
a
e
rg ide ar
O iv
s
e
r
d o
st

What is mitosis?
A type of cell division (nuclear division)
occurs when body cells divide to increase their
number, or an organism reproduces asexually
mitosis is split into 4 stages: prophase,
metaphase, anaphase and telophase
produces 2 daughter nuclei that have the same
number of chromosomes as the parent cell and
each other
**the whole process is continuous, and the four
stages blend smoothly into each other

cell
nucleus

DNA
1. REPLICATION
DNA
DNA

2. MITOSIS

DNA

DNA

3. CYTOKINESIS

DNA

DNA

Watch the animation of mitosis

http://www.cellsalive.com/mitosis.htm

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007
2495855/student_view0/chapter2/animation_
_mitosis_and_cytokinesis.html

a DNA in uncondensed form

b DNA condensed into chromosomes

replicated,
uncondensed DNA

nucleus

pair of
centrosomes

nucleolus

END OF
INTERPHASE

DNA has already

duplicated back in the
S phase. Centrosome
has doubled.

MITOSIS AND CYTOKINESIS

chromosomes
(each a pair of sister chromatids
joined together)

spindle fibers
(microtubules)

mitotic
spindle

PROPHASE
Mitosis begins. The
chromosomes take shape
as the DNA condenses. The
nuclear envelope begins to
break down. The two
centrosomes begin to move
toward the cellular poles,
sprouting microtubules as
they go.

metaphase
plate

METAPHASE
Linkage and alignment. Some
microtubules of the mitotic spindle
form a cage around the cells former
nucleus while others attach to the
sister chromatids and align them
at the metaphase plate. Each
chromatid now faces the pole
opposite that of its sister
chromatid.

spindle fibers shortening

nuclear
envelope
forming

cleavage
furrow

separating
chromatids

ANAPHASE
Separation. Sister
chromatids are
moved to opposite
poles in the cell by
motor proteins that
pull the chromatids
along the
microtubule
tracks they are
attached to. Each
chromatid is now a
full fledged
chromosome.

TELOPHASE AND
CYTOKINESIS
Exit from mitosis.
Chromosomes
decondense,
the mitotic spindle breaks
down, and nuclear
envelopes form around the
two separate
complements
of chromosomes.
Meanwhile, a cleavage
furrow begins to form near
the middle of the cell.

COMPLETION OF
CYTOKINESIS

One cell becomes two.

The cell membrane
pinches together
completely, the
membranes on either
side fuses together,
and the one cell
becomes two. These
two cells now enter
the G1 phase of
interphase.

What stages of mitosis are these?

How do you know?

centriole

chromosome

chromatin

chromatid
centromere

Centriole

Short cylindrical array of microtubules. A pair of

centrioles is usually found at the centre of a centrosome
in animal cells.

Chromosome

Structure composed of a very long DNA molecule and

associated proteins that carries part (or all) of the
hereditary information of an organism.

Centro eh??

Chromatid

One copy of a chromosome formed by DNA replication

that is still joined at the centromere to the other copy.
The two identical chromatids are called sister
chromatids.

Chromatin

Complex of DNA and proteins (mostly histones) found in

the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell. The material of which
chromosomes are made.

Centromere

Region of a mitotic chromosome that holds sister

chromatids together. It is also the site on the DNA where
it is captured by microtubules from the mitotic spindle.

1. a) How does the amount of DNA in a nucleus differ between

the start and the end of interphase?
b) There are 46 chromosomes in a human body cell. How
many DNA molecules are there in a cell nucleus at the start of
prophase?
c) Suggest why it is an advantage for the chromatids to
contract independently during prophase?
d) Suggest why it is important that the chromatids remain
attached at the centromere until anaphase.
2. Draw diagrams of metaphase, anaphase and telophase for
the cell shown below.

Complete these
questions

Plenary:
Card sort