MEIOSIS

There are two types of cell division, mitosis and meiosis. Mitosis allows organisms to
reproduce asexually, grow and repair of worn-out or damaged tissues. Meiosis on the
other hand, is important in sexual reproduction and genetic diversity among sexually
reproducing organism.

Many of the steps of meiosis closely resemble corresponding steps in mitosis. Meiosis,
like mitosis, is preceded by the duplication of chromosomes. However, this single
duplication is followed by not one but two consecutive cell divisions called meiosis I
and meiosis II. These two divisions result in four daughter cells (rather than the two
daughter cells of mitosis), each with only half as many chromosomes as the parent
cell—one set, rather than two. Meiosis reduces the amount of genetic information
resulting to its importance in sexual reproduction and genetic diversity among sexually
reproducing organism.

OVERVIEW OF MEIOSIS

The overview of meiosis

shows for a single
pair of homologous
chromosomes in a diploid cell, that
both members of the pair are
duplicated and the copies
sorted into four
haploid daughter cells. Recall that
sister chromatids are two copies of
one chromosome, closely
associated all along their lengths;
this association is called sister
chromatid. Together, the sister
chromatids make up one duplicated
chromosome. In
contrast, the two chromosomes Figure 1. Overview of meiosis: how meiosis
of a homologous pair reduces chromosome number. After the
are individual chromosomes chromosomes duplicate in interphase, the
that were inherited from different diploid cell divides twice, yielding four
parents. haploid daughter cells.
Figure 2. Meiosis I and Meiosis II. Describes in detail the stages of the two divisions of meiosis for an
animal cell whose diploid number is 6 (2n = 6).

Table 1. Stages of Meiosis

STAGES OF MEIOSIS I STAGES OF MEIOSIS II

PROPHASE I PROPHASE II
Prophase of the first meiotic division is Meiosis II is initiated immediately after
typically longer and more complex cytokinesis, usually before the
when compared to prophase of chromosomes have fully
mitosis. It has been further subdivided elongated. In contrast to meiosis I,
into the following five phases based meiosis II resembles a normal mitosis.
on chromosomal behaviour:
The nuclear membrane disappears by
1. Leptotene
the end of prophase II. The
2. Zygotene chromosomes again become
3. Pachytene compact.
4. Diplotene and
5. Diakinesis

METAPHASE I METAPHASE II
The bivalent chromosomes align on At this stage the chromosomes align
the equatorial plate. The microtubules at the equator and the microtubules
from the opposite poles of the spindle from opposite poles of the spindle get
attach to the pair of homologous. attached to the kinetochores of sister

ANAPHASE I ANAPHASE II
The homologous chromosomes It begins with the simultaneous
separate, while sister chromatids splitting of the centromere of each
remain associated at their chromosome (which was holding the
centromeres. sister chromatids together), allowing
them to move toward opposite poles
of the cell.

TELOPHASE I TELOPHASE II
The nuclear membrane and nucleolus Meiosis ends with telophase II in
reappear, cytokinesis follows and this which the two groups of chromosomes
is called as diad of cells. Although in once again get enclosed by a nuclear
many cases the chromosomes do envelope; cytokinesis follows resulting
undergo some dispersion, they do not in the formation of haploid daughter
reach the extremely extended state of cells.
the interphase nucleus.

IMPORTANCE OF MEIOSIS

Through the process of meiosis, rapid generation of new genetic combinations happen
to sex cells during their development. There are three mechanisms that contribute to
this genetic variation: independent assortment, crossing-over, and random fertilization.

1. Independent Assortment

Humans have 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes. In fact, these 23

chromosomes that you receive from your parents are a matter of chance.

The random distribution of homologous chromosomes during meiosis is called

independent assortment. In metaphase I, maternal and paternal chromosomes lined up
at the equator of the cell, but eventually, these are pulled apart randomly at opposite
poles in anaphase I. Each of the 23 pairs segregates or separates independently. Each
daughter cell gets one chromosome from each homologous pair.

Independent assortment is shown in Figure 3 with just four pairs of homologous

chromosomes for simplified illustration. With four pairs of homologous chromosomes,
you may come up with 24 or 16 possible combinations. Thus, 223 (about eight million)
with different gene combinations can be produced from one original cell by this
mechanism alone for humans.
Figure 3.
Crossing - Over and Random Fertilization

Another factor that contributes to genetic variation is crossing-over. This occur during
prophase I of meiosis, where chromosomes line up in the process called synapsis, while
sections of their DNA are exchanged. DNA exchange during crossover adds more
recombination probabilities to the independent assortment of chromosomes that occur
later in meiosis. The number of genetic combinations in the gametes is practically
unlimited. In addition, because the zygote that forms a new individual is created by the
random fusion of two gametes, fertilization squares the number of possible outcomes
(223 x 223 = 64 trillion).

Figure 4. Crossing -over between homologous chromosomes adds to genetic variability.