Reduction division

(Meiosis)

Enlarge image Credit: Marek Kultys

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EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS

During meiosis, reduction division produces four haploid cells from a single diploid cell. The parent cell contains replicated chromosomes, but the four daughter cells contain unreplicated chromosomes. While meiosis is part of the life cycle of many organisms, it is not itself a cycle. The daughter cells produced by a reduction division are not identical to the parent cells, as is the case in mitosis. The diagram below provides an overview of the series of steps, or phases, that are involved in a single meiotic division. Meiosis occurs only in eukaryotes. Prokaryotic cell division occurs via binary fission.