In this chapter, you can use pictures of onion root tip cells to learn how to identify the different phases of mitosis and better understand what events occur during each phase of mitosis. These stages are prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase As mentioned, onion root tip cells divide rapidly as the roots elongate to absorb water and various minerals from the soil
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For this reason, it's possible to identify different stages of cell division by mitosis based on chromosomal distribution.
Mastering prophase identification is essentially learning to read the earliest cues of cellular activity
The answer lies in their unique biological characteristics. Analyze your data to compare the amount of time onion root cells spend in each phase of the cell cycle Based on your knowledge of the cell cycle, propose an explanation for any time differences. Microtubules align chromosomes along metaphase plate
Kinetochore microtubules shorten, pulling sister chromatids to opposite poles, polar microtubules elongate, lengthening dividing cell Nuclear membrane reforms, chromatin decondenses, and cell plate begins to form. These regions of growth are good for studying the cell cycle because at any given time, you can find cells that are undergoing mitosis In order to examine cells in the tip of an onion root, a thin slice of the root is placed onto a microscope slide and stained so the chromosomes will be visible.
During prophase, the chromosomes supercoil and the fibers of the spindle apparatus begin to form between centrosomes located at the pole of the cells
The nuclear membrane also disintegrates at this time, freeing the chromosomes into the surrounding cytoplasm. Histology of mitosis in onion root tips (interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase) stained with iron hematoxylin.
