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General Biology II: 11.6 Comparing Meiosis and Mitosis

General Biology II
11.6 Comparing Meiosis and Mitosis
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Table Of Contents
  5. Reference Information
  6. The Process of Science
  7. 3. Biological Molecules
  8. 4. Structure of DNA
  9. 5. DNA Replication
  10. 6. Protein Synthesis
    1. 6.1 What are proteins and what do they do?
    2. 6.2 What is a gene?
    3. 6.3 How do genes direct the production of proteins?
    4. 6.4 Transcription: from DNA to mRNA
    5. 6.5 Eukaryotic RNA Processing
    6. 6.6 Translation
    7. 6.7 The Genetic Code
    8. Optional Section - Micropigs
  11. 7. Mutations
    1. How Gene Mutations Occur
    2. Intro to Genetic Disorders
    3. Do all gene affect health and development?
    4. Types of Mutations
    5. Changes in Numbers of Genes
    6. Changes in Chromosome Number
    7. Complex Multifactorial Disorders
    8. Genetic Predispositions
    9. Genetics and Statistics
  12. Gene Regulation
    1. 8.1 Prokaryotic versus Eukaryotic Gene Expression
    2. 8.2 What is the epigenome?
    3. 8.3 Alternative RNA splicing
  13. 9. Biotechnology
    1. 9.1 Manipulating Genetic Material
    2. 9.2 Cloning
    3. 9.3 Genetic Engineering
    4. 9.4 Biotechnology in Medicine and Agriculture
    5. 9.5 Genomics and Proteomics
    6. 9.6 Applying Genomics
    7. 9.7 Proteomics
  14. 10. Cell Division - Binary Fission and Mitosis
    1. 10.1 Prokaryotic Cell Division
    2. 10.2 Eukaryotic Cell Division
    3. 10.3 Control of the Cell Cycle
    4. 10.4 Cancer and the Cell Cycle
  15. 11. Meiosis
    1. 11.1 Sexual Reproduction
    2. 11.2 Overview of Meiosis
    3. 11.3 Interphase
    4. 11.4 Meiosis I
    5. 11.5 Meiosis II
    6. 11.6 Comparing Meiosis and Mitosis
    7. 11.7 Errors in Meiosis
  16. 12. Patterns of Inheritance
    1. 12.1 Mendelian Genetics
    2. 12.2 Garden Pea Characteristics Revealed the Basics of Heredity
    3. 12.3 Phenotypes and Genotypes
    4. 12.4 Monohybrid Cross and the Punnett Square
    5. 12.5 Laws of Inheritance
    6. 12.6 Extensions of the Laws of Inheritance
    7. 12.7 Multiple Alleles
    8. 12.8 Sex-Linked Traits
    9. 12.9 Linked Genes Violate the Law of Independent Assortment
    10. 12.10 Epistasis
  17. Genetics: Dog Coat Color
    1. Introduction to Genetics
    2. Pedigrees and Punnett Squares
    3. Black fur color: a dominant trait
    4. Yellow fur color: a recessive trait
    5. Epistasis: the relationship between black, brown, and yellow fur
    6. Brindle color: partial dominance and epistasis
    7. Incomplete dominance: when traits blend
    8. White spotting: When there's more than two alleles
    9. Hemophilia: a sex-linked disorder
    10. Overall phenotypes: putting it all together
    11. Additional complexity
    12. It's not all in the genes

11.6 Comparing Meiosis and Mitosis

Mitosis and meiosis, which are both forms of division of the nucleus in eukaryotic cells, share some similarities, but also exhibit distinct differences that lead to their very different outcomes. Mitosis is a single nuclear division that results in two nuclei, usually partitioned into two new cells. The nuclei resulting from a mitotic division are genetically identical to the original. They have the same number of sets of chromosomes: one in the case of haploid cells, and two in the case of diploid cells. On the other hand, meiosis is two nuclear divisions that result in four nuclei, usually partitioned into four new cells. The nuclei resulting from meiosis are never genetically identical, and they contain one chromosome set only—this is half the number of the original cell, which was diploid (Figure 6).

The differences in the outcomes of meiosis and mitosis occur because of differences in the behavior of the chromosomes during each process. Most of these differences in the processes occur in meiosis I, which is a very different nuclear division than mitosis. In meiosis I, the homologous chromosome pairs become associated with each other, are bound together, experience chiasmata and crossover between sister chromatids, and line up along the metaphase plate in tetrads with spindle fibers from opposite spindle poles attached to each kinetochore of a homolog in a tetrad. All of these events occur only in meiosis I, never in mitosis.

Homologous chromosomes move to opposite poles during meiosis I so the number of sets of chromosomes in each nucleus-to-be is reduced from two to one. For this reason, meiosis I is referred to as a reduction division. There is no such reduction in ploidy level in mitosis.

Meiosis II is much more analogous to a mitotic division. In this case, duplicated chromosomes (only one set of them) line up at the center of the cell with divided kinetochores attached to spindle fibers from opposite poles. During anaphase II, as in mitotic anaphase, the kinetochores divide and one sister chromatid is pulled to one pole and the other sister chromatid is pulled to the other pole. If it were not for the fact that there had been crossovers, the two products of each meiosis II division would be identical as in mitosis; instead, they are different because there has always been at least one crossover per chromosome. Meiosis II is not a reduction division because, although there are fewer copies of the genome in the resulting cells, there is still one set of chromosomes, as there was at the end of meiosis I.

Cells produced by mitosis will function in different parts of the body as a part of growth or replacing dead or damaged cells. They may even be involved in asexual reproduction in some organisms. Cells produced by meiosis in a diploid-dominant organism such as an animal will only participate in sexual reproduction.

09.5mitosismeiosiscomp
Figure 6: Meiosis and mitosis are both preceded by one round of DNA replication; however, meiosis includes two nuclear divisions. The four daughter cells resulting from meiosis are haploid and genetically distinct. The daughter cells resulting from mitosis are diploid and identical to the parent cell.

References

Unless otherwise noted, images on this page are licensed under CC-BY 4.0 by OpenStax.

OpenStax, Biology. OpenStax CNX. May 27, 2016http://cnx.org/contents/s8Hh0oOc@9.10:1Q8z96mT@4/Meiosis

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11.7 Errors in Meiosis
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Copyright © 2016 by Lisa Bartee and Christine Anderson. Mt Hood Community College Biology 102 by Lisa Bartee and Christine Anderson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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