Question

Draw Metaphase in a) mitosis b) meiosis I c ) meiosis II for an organism that is 2n=8. Be accurate in your depiction of the chromosomes.

Answer 1

Metaphase in a) Mitosis :-

• In case of mitosis, during metaphase all the 8 chromosomes will line up along the equator of the cell.
• And in anaphase, the centromere of each chromosome will split into two and each half will get pulled to the respective pole by the contraction of the spindle fibres. In the pole each chromatid is considered as one chromosome.
• Therefore at the end of mitosis, the two daughter cells will have 8 chromosomes each.

Metaphase in b) Meiosis I :-

• In metaphase of meiosis I, the chromosomes will get lined up in homologous pairs, along the equator of the cell.
• However, in this case, each chromosome of a homologous pair will get pulled to the respective pole by the contracting spindle fibres during anaphase.
• As a result, at the end of meiosis I there will be two daughter cells each having 4 chromosomes.

Metaphase in c) Meiosis II :-

• In metaphase of Meiosis II, the chromosomes will get lined up along the equator of the cell.
• Meiosis II is just like mitosis. Therefore, each chromosome will get split along its centromere into two and each half will travel to the respective pole to form an individual chromosome.
• Therefore at the end, it will form daughter cells having 4 chromosomes each.