Cell Division

Jai Ganesh · 2021-12-14 13:39:43

Cell Division

Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle. In eukaryotes, there are two distinct types of cell division; a vegetative division, whereby each daughter cell is genetically identical to the parent cell (mitosis), and a reproductive cell division, whereby the number of chromosomes in the daughter cells is reduced by half to produce haploid gametes (meiosis). In cell biology, mitosis is a part of the cell cycle, in which, replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Cell division gives rise to genetically identical cells in which the total number of chromosomes is maintained. In general, mitosis (division of the nucleus) is preceded by the S stage of interphase (during which the DNA is replicated) and is often followed by telophase and cytokinesis; which divides the cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane of one cell into two new cells containing roughly equal shares of these cellular components. The different stages of mitosis all together define the mitotic (M) phase of an animal cell cycle—the division of the mother cell into two genetically identical daughter cells. Meiosis results in four haploid daughter cells by undergoing one round of DNA replication followed by two divisions. Homologous chromosomes are separated in the first division, and sister chromatids are separated in the second division. Both of these cell division cycles are used in the process of sexual reproduction at some point in their life cycle. Both are believed to be present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor.

Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) usually undergo a vegetative cell division known as binary fission, where their genetic material is segregated equally into two daughter cells. While binary fission may be the means of division by most prokaryotes, there are alternative manners of division, such as budding, that have been observed. All cell divisions, regardless of organism, are preceded by a single round of DNA replication.

For simple unicellular microorganisms such as the amoeba, one cell division is equivalent to reproduction – an entire new organism is created. On a larger scale, mitotic cell division can create progeny from multicellular organisms, such as plants that grow from cuttings. Mitotic cell division enables sexually reproducing organisms to develop from the one-celled zygote, which itself was produced by meiotic cell division from gametes. After growth, cell division by mitosis allows for continual construction and repair of the organism. The human body experiences about 10 quadrillion cell divisions in a lifetime.

The primary concern of cell division is the maintenance of the original cell's genome. Before division can occur, the genomic information that is stored in chromosomes must be replicated, and the duplicated genome must be separated cleanly between cells. A great deal of cellular infrastructure is involved in keeping genomic information consistent between generations.

Cell division in Bacteria

Divisome and elongasome complexes responsible for peptidoglycan synthesis during lateral cell-wall growth and division.

Bacterial cell division happens through binary fission or budding. The divisome is a protein complex in bacteria that is responsible for cell division, constriction of inner and outer membranes during division, and peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis at the division site. A tubulin-like protein, FtsZ plays a critical role in formation of a contractile ring for the cell division.

Cell Division in Eukaryote

Cell division in eukaryote is much more complicated than prokaryote. Depending upon chromosomal number reduced or not; Eukaryotic cell divisions can be classified as mitosis (equational division) and meiosis (reductional division). A primitive form of cell division is also found which is called amitosis. The amitotic or mitotic cell division is more atypical and diverse in the various groups of organisms such as protists (namely diatoms, dinoflagellates etc.) and fungi.

In mitotic metaphase, typically the chromosomes (each with 2 sister chromatid that they developed due to replication in the S phase of interphase) arranged and sister chromatids split and distributed towards daughter cells.

In meiosis, typically in Meiosis-I the homologous chromosomes are paired and then separated and distributed into daughter cells. Meiosis-II is like mitosis where the chromatids are separated. In human and other higher animals and many other organisms, the meiosis is called gametic meiosis, that is the meiosis gives rise to gametes. Whereas in many groups of organisms, especially in plants (observable in lower plants but vestigial stage in higher plants), the meiosis gives rise to the kind of spores that germinate into haploid vegetative phase (gametophyte). This kind of meiosis is called sporic meiosis.

Phases of eukaryotic cell division:

Interphase

Interphase is the process through which a cell must go before mitosis, meiosis, and cytokinesis. Interphase consists of three main phases: G1, S, and G2. G1 is a time of growth for the cell where specialized cellular functions occur in order to prepare the cell for DNA Replication. There are checkpoints during interphase that allow the cell to either advance or halt further development. One of the checkpoint is between G1 and S, the purpose for this checkpoint is to check for appropriate cell size and any DNA damage. The second check point is in the G2 phase, this checkpoint also checks for cell size but also the DNA replication. The last check point is located at the site of metaphase, where it checks that the chromosomes are correctly connected to the mitotic spindles. In S phase, the chromosomes are replicated in order for the genetic content to be maintained. During G2, the cell undergoes the final stages of growth before it enters the M phase, where spindles are synthesized. The M phase can be either mitosis or meiosis depending on the type of cell. Germ cells, or gametes, undergo meiosis, while somatic cells will undergo mitosis. After the cell proceeds successfully through the M phase, it may then undergo cell division through cytokinesis. The control of each checkpoint is controlled by cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinases. The progression of interphase is the result of the increased amount of cyclin. As the amount of cyclin increases, more and more cyclin dependent kinases attach to cyclin signaling the cell further into interphase. At the peak of the cyclin, attached to the cyclin dependent kinases this system pushes the cell out of interphase and into the M phase, where mitosis, meiosis, and cytokinesis occur. There are three transition checkpoints the cell has to go through before entering the M phase. The most important being the G1-S transition checkpoint. If the cell does not pass this checkpoint, it results in the cell exiting the cell cycle.

Prophase

Prophase is the first stage of division. The nuclear envelope is broken down in this stage, long strands of chromatin condense to form shorter more visible strands called chromosomes, the nucleolus disappears, and microtubules attach to the chromosomes at the disc-shaped kinetochores present in the centromere. Microtubules associated with the alignment and separation of chromosomes are referred to as the spindle and spindle fibers. Chromosomes will also be visible under a microscope and will be connected at the centromere. During this condensation and alignment period in meiosis, the homologous chromosomes undergo a break in their double-stranded DNA at the same locations, followed by a recombination of the now fragmented parental DNA strands into non-parental combinations, known as crossing over. This process is evidenced to be caused in a large part by the highly conserved Spo11 protein through a mechanism similar to that seen with toposomerase in DNA replication and transcription.

Metaphase

In metaphase, the centromeres of the chromosomes convene themselves on the metaphase plate (or equatorial plate), an imaginary line that is at equal distances from the two centrosome poles and held together by complex complexes known as cohesins. Chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell by microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) pushing and pulling on centromeres of both chromatids thereby causing the chromosome to move to the center. At this point the chromosomes are still condensing and are currently one step away from being the most coiled and condensed they will be, and the spindle fibers have already connected to the kinetochores. During this phase all the microtubules, with the exception of the kinetochores, are in a state of instability promoting their progression towards anaphase. At this point, the chromosomes are ready to split into opposite poles of the cell towards the spindle to which they are connected.

Anaphase

Anaphase is a very short stage of the cell cycle and it occurs after the chromosomes align at the mitotic plate. Kinetochores emit anaphase-inhibition signals until their attachment to the mitotic spindle. Once the final chromosome is properly aligned and attached the final signal dissipates and triggers the abrupt shift to anaphase. This abrupt shift is caused by the activation of the anaphase-promoting complex and its function of tagging degradation of proteins important towards the metaphase-anaphase transition. One of these proteins that is broken down is securin which through its breakdown releases the enzyme separase that cleaves the cohesin rings holding together the sister chromatids thereby leading to the chromosomes separating. After the chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell, the spindle fibers will pull them apart. The chromosomes are split apart while the sister chromatids move to opposite sides of the cell. As the sister chromatids are being pulled apart, the cell and plasma are elongated by non-kinetochore microtubules.

Telophase

Telophase is the last stage of the cell cycle in which a cleavage furrow splits the cells cytoplasm (cytokinesis) and chromatin. This occurs through the synthesis of a new nuclear envelopes that forms around the chromatin which is gathered at each pole and the reformation of the nucleolus as the chromosomes decidedness their chromatin back to the loose state it possessed during interphase. The division of the cellular contents is not always equal and can vary by cell type as seen with oocyte formation where one of the four daughter cells possess the majority of the cytoplasm.

Cytokinesis

The last stage of the cell division process is cytokinesis. In this stage there is a cytoplasmic division that occurs at the end of either mitosis or meiosis. At this stage there is a resulting irreversible separation leading to two daughter cells. Cell division plays an important role in determining the fate of the cell. This is due to there being the possibility of an asymmetric division. This as a result leads to cytokinesis producing unequal daughter cells containing completely different amounts or concentrations of fate-determining molecules.

In animals the cytokinesis ends with formation of a contractile ring and thereafter a cleavage. But in plants it happen differently. At first a cell plate is formed and then a cell wall develops between the 2 daughter cells.

In Fission yeast (S. pombe) the cytokinesis happens in G1 phase

Variants

Cells are broadly classified into two main categories: simple non-nucleated prokaryotic cells and complex nucleated eukaryotic cells. Due to their structural differences, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells do not divide in the same way. Also, the pattern of cell division that transforms eukaryotic stem cells into gametes (sperm cells in males or egg cells in females), termed meiosis, is different from that of the division of somatic cells in the body. Image of the mitotic spindle in a human cell showing microtubules in green, chromosomes (DNA) in blue, and kinetochores in red.

Cell division over 42. The cells were directly imaged in the cell culture vessel, using non-invasive quantitative phase contrast time-lapse microscopy.

Degradation

Multicellular organisms replace worn-out cells through cell division. In some animals, however, cell division eventually halts. In humans this occurs, on average, after 52 divisions, known as the Hayflick limit. The cell is then referred to as senescent. With each division the cells telomeres, protective sequences of DNA on the end of a chromosome that prevent degradation of the chromosomal DNA, shorten. This shortening has been correlated to negative effects such as age related diseases and shortened lifespans in humans. Cancer cells, on the other hand, are not thought to degrade in this way, if at all. An enzyme complex called telomerase, present in large quantities in cancerous cells, rebuilds the telomeres through synthesis of telomeric DNA repeats, allowing division to continue indefinitely.

Summary

Where Do Cells Come From?

Sometimes you accidentally bite your lip or skin your knee, but in a matter of days the wound heals. Is it magic? Or, is there another explanation?

Every day, every hour, every second one of the most important events in life is going on in your body—cells are dividing. When cells divide, they make new cells. A single cell divides to make two cells and these two cells then divide to make four cells, and so on. We call this process "cell division" and "cell reproduction," because new cells are formed when old cells divide. The ability of cells to divide is unique for living organisms.

Why Do Cells Divide?

Cells divide for many reasons. For example, when you skin your knee, cells divide to replace old, dead, or damaged cells. Cells also divide so living things can grow. When organisms grow, it isn't because cells are getting larger. Organisms grow because cells are dividing to produce more and more cells. In human bodies, nearly two trillion cells divide every day.

How Many Cells Are in Your Body?

You and I began as a single cell, or what you would call an egg. By the time you are an adult, you will have trillions of cells. That number depends on the size of the person, but biologists put that number around 37 trillion cells. Yes, that is trillion with a "T."

How Do Cells Know When to Divide?

In cell division, the cell that is dividing is called the "parent" cell. The parent cell divides into two "daughter" cells. The process then repeats in what is called the cell cycle.

Cells regulate their division by communicating with each other using chemical signals from special proteins called cyclins. These signals act like switches to tell cells when to start dividing and later when to stop dividing. It is important for cells to divide so you can grow and so your cuts heal. It is also important for cells to stop dividing at the right time. If a cell can not stop dividing when it is supposed to stop, this can lead to a disease called cancer.

Some cells, like skin cells, are constantly dividing. We need to continuously make new skin cells to replace the skin cells we lose. Did you know we lose 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every minute? That means we lose around 50 million cells every day. This is a lot of skin cells to replace, making cell division in skin cells is so important. Other cells, like nerve and brain cells, divide much less often.

How Cells Divide

Depending on the type of cell, there are two ways cells divide—mitosis and meiosis. Each of these methods of cell division has special characteristics. One of the key differences in mitosis is a single cell divides into two cells that are replicas of each other and have the same number of chromosomes. This type of cell division is good for basic growth, repair, and maintenance. In meiosis a cell divides into four cells that have half the number of chromosomes. Reducing the number of chromosomes by half is important for sexual reproduction and provides for genetic diversity.

Mitosis Cell Division

Mitosis is how somatic—or non-reproductive cells—divide. Somatic cells make up most of your body's tissues and organs, including skin, muscles, lungs, gut, and hair cells. Reproductive cells (like eggs) are not somatic cells.

In mitosis, the important thing to remember is that the daughter cells each have the same chromosomes and DNA as the parent cell. The daughter cells from mitosis are called diploid cells. Diploid cells have two complete sets of chromosomes. Since the daughter cells have exact copies of their parent cell's DNA, no genetic diversity is created through mitosis in normal healthy cells.

Mitosis

Mitosis cell division creates two genetically identical daughter diploid cells.

The Mitosis Cell Cycle

Before a cell starts dividing, it is in the "Interphase." It seems that cells must be constantly dividing (remember there are 2 trillion cell divisions in your body every day), but each cell actually spends most of its time in the interphase. Interphase is the period when a cell is getting ready to divide and start the cell cycle. During this time, cells are gathering nutrients and energy. The parent cell is also making a copy of its DNA to share equally between the two daughter cells.

The mitosis division process has several steps or phases of the cell cycle—interphase, prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis—to successfully make the new diploid cells.

Mitosis cell cycle

The mitosis cell cycle includes several phases that result in two new diploid daughter cells.

When a cell divides during mitosis, some organelles are divided between the two daughter cells. For example, mitochondria are capable of growing and dividing during the interphase, so the daughter cells each have enough mitochondria. The Golgi apparatus, however, breaks down before mitosis and reassembles in each of the new daughter cells. Many of the specifics about what happens to organelles before, during and after cell division are currently being researched. (You can read more about cell parts and organelles by clicking here.)

Meiosis Cell Division

Meiosis is the other main way cells divide. Meiosis is cell division that creates gender cells, like female egg cells or male sperm cells. What is important to remember about meiosis? In meiosis, each new cell contains a unique set of genetic information. After meiosis, the sperm and egg cells can join to create a new organism.

Meiosis is why we have genetic diversity in all sexually reproducing organisms. During meiosis, a small portion of each chromosome breaks off and reattaches to another chromosome. This process is called "crossing over" or "genetic recombination." Genetic recombination is the reason full siblings made from egg and sperm cells from the same two parents can look very different from one another.

Meiosis

The meiosis cell cycle has two main stages of division -- Meiosis I and Meiosis II. The end result of meiosis is four haploid daughter cells that each contain different genetic information from each other and the parent cell. Click for more detail. (Image from Science Primer from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.)

The Meiosis Cell Cycle

Meiosis has two cycles of cell division, conveniently called Meiosis I and Meiosis II. Meiosis I halves the number of chromosomes and is also when crossing over happens. Meiosis II halves the amount of genetic information in each chromosome of each cell. The end result is four daughter cells called haploid cells. Haploid cells only have one set of chromosomes - half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

Before meiosis I starts, the cell goes through interphase. Just like in mitosis, the parent cell uses this time to prepare for cell division by gathering nutrients and energy and making a copy of its DNA. During the next stages of meiosis, this DNA will be switched around during genetic recombination and then divided between four haploid cells.

So remember, Mitosis is what helps us grow and Meiosis is why we are all unique!

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#1 2021-12-14 13:39:43

Cell Division

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