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.
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