Abstract:
"Cell division is one of the most fundamental and conserved processes, by which a mother
cell transmits genetic material to its progeny. The sequence of events that help a mother
cell to give rise to identical daughter cells is known as the mitotic cell cycle. The mitotic cell
cycle involves the two important phases that are temporally separated in eukaryotes.
These two phases of the cell cycle are termed as S (synthetic) phase and M (mitotic) phase
(Figure 1). The M phase is further sub-divided into four important stages - prophase,
metaphase, anaphase and telophase. During prophase, the chromatin fibers (DNA
molecules in association with RNA and protein components in a cell) condense into highly
compact form to facilitate chromosome segregation. In metaphase, the condensed sister
chromatids are bivalently attached to the segregating apparatus, the spindle. Anaphase is
initiated by the separation of the duplicated chromatids to the opposite poles. Finally
duplicated chromatids segregate from each other at telophase, chromatin again
decondenses and cell division is completed by the physical separation of the cytoplasm into
two daughter cells by reformation of the nuclear envelope. However, it is noteworthy that
these stages are very short in yeasts and are not easily separable."
