Question:
What is meiosis and mitosis ? Explain with few examples.
Answer:
Mitosis and meiosis are types of cell divisions.
Here is a table that describes the basic difference between the two:
| Mitosis | Meiosis |
| 1. Takes place in somatic (body) cells | 1. Takes place in reproductive cells or at the time of germination of zygote or zygospore. |
| 2. Cells undergoing mitosis may be haploid or diploid. | 2. Cells undergoing meiosis are always diploid. |
| 3. Completes in one nuclear division. | 3. Completes in two successive divisions. |
| 4. Two daughter cells are formed at the end of mitosis. | 4. Four daughter cells are formed at the end of meiosis. |
| 5. Chromosome number in the daughter cells remain the same. | 5. Chromosome number in the daughter cells reduces to half. |
| 6. DNA replication takes place in the interphase before every division. | 6. DNA replication takes place only once i.e. only during the interphase of Meiosis I |
| 7. No exchange of genetic material takes place. | 7. Exchange of genetic material takes place. |
| 8. Parent cells and daughter cells have identical chromosomes. | 8. Parent cells and daughter cells are not identical because daughter cells have chromosome materials derived from each parent. |
| 9. Required for growth, repair and regeneration. | 9. Required for gamete formation and maintaining the number of chromosomes within a species. |
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