Telophase

Stages of Mitosis

A video about telophase and cytokinesis

EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS

     


During telophase, the last

telophase
Late mitosis: Chromosomes (blue), microtubules (green) and kinetochores (pink). Other parts of the cell are invisible because they have not been stained.
Pronunciation: "TEE-low-faze" or "TELL-ə-faze"

stage of mitosis, the chromosomes have reached the poles

and they begin to uncoil and become less condensed (reversing the process that occurred during prophase). Two new nuclear envelopes begin to form around each of the two separated sets of unreplicated chromosomes. As decondensation of the chromosomes proceeds, the nucleoli (which disappeared during prophase) form once again. A nucleolus is a region within a nucleus where ribosomes are assembled from proteins and ribosomal RNA.

mitotic telophase
Cleavage Furrow

At the same time, there is a division of the cytoplasm (cytokinesis). In animal cells, a cleavage furrow — an indentation around the equator of the cell — appears (see photo left). By the end of telophase, the cell has divided in two along the plane defined by the furrow.

In terrestrial plants, instead of a cleavage furrow, a flat cell plate forms halfway between the two separated sets of chromosomes, dividing the cell into two daughter cells (see figure at right). Note that mitotic plant cells generally have a more rectangular appearance than those of animals.

Mitosis is now over. The next stage of the cell cycle is interphase, in which each of the chromatids produced during mitosis replicates in preparation for another round of cell division. Remember — interphase is not one of the stages of mitosis.

Next page >>

Interphase and the cell cycle >>

More about mitosis >>

Etymology: The prefix telo- is from the Greek word telos, meaning end or completion. Some other common bio terms starting with this prefix are: telocentric chromosome, telomerase, and telomere.
The equator and poles: In explaining mitosis and meiosis, biologists use a geographic analogy. Just as there is no visible equator in Brazil or the Congo, nor an x marking the spot at the earthly poles in the Arctic or Antarctic, there is no visible structure corresponding to the equator and poles of a cell. Equator is just the term used to explain where the chromosomes line up during metaphase and the poles are just the two ends of the cell where the centrioles migrate to before the chromosomes do. But don't expect to see anything at the poles of cell, no more than you would if you went to the poles of Planet Earth.


Most shared on Macroevolution.net:



Human Origins: Are we hybrids?

On the Origins of New Forms of Life

Mammalian Hybrids

Cat-rabbit Hybrids: Fact or fiction?

Famous Biologists

Dog-cow Hybrids

Georges Cuvier: A Biography

Prothero: A Rebuttal

Branches of Biology

Dog-fox Hybrids






Telophase - Stages of Mitosis - Online Biology Dictionary - © Macroevolution.net - All rights reserved. Safe for kids!