MITOSIS, CYTOKINESIS, MEIOSIS AND APOPTOSIS Michelle Gehringer Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa Keywords: Cell cycle, checkpoints, growth factors, mitosis, meiosis, cyclin, cyclin dependent protein kinases, G1 phase, S phase, spindle, prophase, anaphase, metaphase,
Summary: At the end of meiosis, 4 daughter cells are formed = eggs or sperm. Each contains half as many chromosomes as the parent cell (n); each cell is genetically different from its parents and from its siblings. Fertilization of an egg by a sperm restores the chromosome number to 2n.
Meiosis occurs in two distinct phases: meiosis I and meiosis II. There are many similarities and differences between these phases, with each phase producing different products and each phase being as crucial to the production of viable germ cells. What Happens Before Meiosis?