Meiosis

- ‘Meiosis’ means To reduce.

- It is a special kind of cell division that takes
place in reproductive / germ cells only.
- Cells in the reproductive tissues multiply in
number by mitotic divisions.
- The final division that produces mature
gametes however, are not mitotic.
- In fact these division are of the reducing
type.
- The number of chromosomes in the cell is
halved in gametes.
- When these haploid gametes fuse to form
a zygote the diploid chromosome number
of organism is restored.
- In man, meiosis occurs in testes
producing sperm and in female it occurs in
ovaries producing ova.
- In plant kingdom meiosis occurs in
anthers and ovaries of angiosperms
(flowering plants) producing pollen grains
and ovules respectively.
 In Meiosis the cell divides in two
sequences as below
1). Heterotypic or
1st Meiotic Division
- Here the diploid
chromosome number of
parent cell is reduced to
half (haploid) in daughter
cells.
2). Homotypic or
2nd Meiotic Division
- This is normal mitotic
division with no change
in the number of
chromosome.
1). Heterotypic Division (Meiosis-I)
• It is also known as First Meiotic Division
• Here the chromosome number is halved.
• It consists of following phases
1. Prophase I
2. Metaphase I
3. Anaphase I
4. Telophase I
 Prophase 1
• It is further consist of 5 substages
- Leptotene (L)
- Zygotene (Z)
- Pachytene (P)
- Diplotene (D)
- Diakinesis (D)
(L Z P D D)
 Leptotene
means thin threads
chromosomes condenses into visible
strands within the nucleus. 2 sister
chromatids are still intact with each other.
Synaptonemal complex assembles.
It is of very short duration. Nuclear membrane
and nucleolus are present during this stage.
Progressive condensation and coiling of
chromosome fibers takes place.
Chromosome assume a long thread like
shape, they contract and become thick.
Each chromosome is made up of only one
chromatid and half of the total chromosome
are paternal and half maternal. For every
paternal chromosome there is a
corresponding maternal chromosome similar
in size, shape and nature of inherited
characters and are called HOMOLOGOUS
CHROMOSOME.
 Zygotene
Means paired threads
Pairing of homologous
chromosomes takes place and it
is called SYNAPSE / SYNAPSIS.
The paired homologous
chromosomes are joined by a
protein containing frame work
called SYNAPTONEMAL
COMPLEX.
Individuals of a pair are equal in
length and in position of
centromere. Thus pairing is
highly specific and exact. The
paired chromosomes are called
Bivalent or Tetrad chromosome.
 Pachytene
Each paired chromosome (bivalent) becomes
shorter and thicker than in earlier substages
and splits into two sister chromatids except at
the region of the centromere.
As a result of the longitudinal division of each
homologous chromosome into two
chromatids there are four groups of
chromatids in the nucleus lying parallel to
each other called TETRADS.
An exchange of chromosomal or genetic
material between non-sister chromatids of
each tetrad takes place with a common
intersection called CHIASMATA.
Such exchange of genetic materials between
non-sister chromatids is called CROSSING-
OVER and it provides the raw material, the
hereditary variations for the organic evolution.
 Diplotene
The attraction between the
homologous chromosomes in a
bivalent is stopped and replaced by
repulsion.
The repulsion starts at the
centromere region and proceeds
towards the arms.
As a result the paired chromosomes
begin to separate from each other
except at sites of crossovers.
Separation of homologous
chromosome in a bivalent is called
disjunction.
The chiasmata are displaced along
the length of the chromosome and
are called TERMINALISATION.
 Diakinesis
In the diakinesis stage the
bivalent chromosome become
more condensed and evenly
distributed in the nucleus.
The nucleolus detaches from
the nucleolar organizer and
ultimately disappears.
The nuclear envelope breaks
down.
The chiasmata disappear. The
spindle fibres originate from
the poles.
 All these phases be summed up as under:-
a). Pairing of Chromosomes: Homologous chromosomes pairs
seem to attract each other. They are similar chromosomes-
one each from either parent. Each pair of homologous
chromosomes is also known as tetrad because it has four
chromatids.
b). Crossing Over: While the homologous chromosomes are in
the tetrad formation the chromatids seem to cross each other
at one or at more points. The chromatids actually break and
rejoin at these points of intersection known as “Chiasmata”.
Alongs with parts of chromatids exchanged, genetic material
gets recombined into new combinations of genes.
c). Nuclear envelope, nucleoli etc… disappear and the
chromosomes move apart to the opposite poles and 2 new
cells are formed. Thus at the end of first meiotic division, 2
haploid daughter cells are form from a diploid parent cell.
Significance of Crossing Over
- During Prophase-I crossing over takes place.
- The maternal and paternal homologous
chromosomes of an organism pair up and
exchange certain portions of their chromatids.
- This crossing over is the basis of genetic
variations in organisms.
- This is why all offspring of 2 organisms are not
alike.
- Crossing over makes the genetic information
in each haploid cell unique.
- Each chromosome pair can crossover at many points
more than once.
 2). Homotypic Division (Meiosis-II)
- This division is identical to Mitosis.
- Here the chromosome number (haploid) is
maintained and at the end, four haploid daughter
cells are produced.
- The phases of second meiotic division are divisible
into Prophase-II, Metaphase-II, Anaphase-II and
Telophase-II.
- Cytokinesis in meiosis varies greatly.
- Sometimes two daughter cells produced at end of
Meiosis-I undergo only Karyo-kinesis and go
through Meiosis-II before dividing into four haploid
daughter cells.
- At other times Cytokinesis occur at end of Meiosis-I
and thus two haploid daughter cells produced under
go Meiosis-II.
 Characteristics of Meiosis
• Occur in germ cells only.
• Results in formation of gametes.
• Results in formation of four haploid
daughter cells.
• Chromosome number of parent cell
is halved.
• Daughter cells differ from parent
cell.
 Significance of Meiosis
• Due to Meiosis, chromosome number is
reduced to half in gametes and
chromosome number of species is
maintained.
• Due to crossing over in Prophase-I, genetic
variations occur.
• Due to Meiosis, the zygote on fertilization
has one maternal and one paternal
chromosome in each homologous pair.