Introduction Cell division has fascinated cell biologists for more than a hundred years. Among many good reasons for this fascination is that mitosis and cytokinesis are beautiful to watch: M phase undoubtedly represents the most dramatic phase of the entire cell cycle, and most cellular structures undergo profound reorganizations. In all eukaryotic organisms, including fungi, plants and animals, a microtubule (MT)-based spindle apparatus is assembled and used for chromosome segregation. Similarly, cytokinesis results from …
showed first 75 words of 544 total

showed last 75 words of 544 total
…congress to an equatorial plane, the metaphase plate. Throughout metaphase, chromosomes oscillate about a central position in the equatorial plane, indicating that they are under tension due to a balance of forces. Anaphase onset occurs in response to a global, as yet poorly understood signal. It is marked by the simultaneous separation of all sister chromatids and thought to result from a loss of sister chromatid cohesion, rather than an increase in poleward moving forces.