Viva-Voce [Study of Mount Onion Tip Mitosis ]

1. Why mitosis is also known as equational division?

Ans. The mitosis is also known as equational division because the number of chromosomes in the
daughter cell is equal to the chromosome number in parent cell.
2. Why do we use onion root tips or grasshopper larva for studying mitosis?
Ans. Onion root tips or grasshopper larva are often used for studying mitosis because these
tissues have actively dividing cells and we can easily show up all the stages of mitotic cell
divisions in them.
3. Why is early morning considered as an ideal time to harvest the onion root tips for study of
mitosis?
Ans. This is because root tips have active cell divisions in morning. When we cut such material
we get all stages of cell division in one material.
4. Suggest the name of few tissues which are suitable for the study of mitosis
Ans. We can select the dividing cells of
 Tail of tadpole larvae.
 Epithelial cells of gills of fishes.
(Hi) Bone marrow tissue of any vertebrate.
 Root tip cells of any herbaceous plant.
 Shoot apices of plants.
 Grasshopper larvae.
5. Why do we prefer monocotyledonous material for cytological studies?
Ans. Monocotyledonous plants are preferable because they have large sized chromosomes which
are better visible in light microscope.
6. Which stain is used for studying chromosomes?
Ans. Acetocarmine is generally used for studying chromosomes as it stains chromosome deep
red while cytoplasm remains unstained.
7. From where do spindle fibres originate?
Ans. Spindle fibres originate from centrioles in case of animal cells, but in plant cells, these
originate from the cytoplasm. These are proteinaceous in nature.
8. In which stage of cell division chromosomes are seen best?
Ans. Chromosomes are best seen in metaphase stage, because at this stage chromosomes are
thickest and shortest and exist in condensed form.
9. Suppose a cell has 44 chromosomes. How many chromosomes will it have after mitosis?
Ans. In mitosis, each of the daughter cells produced have the same number of
chromosomes (44 chromosomes) as that of parent cell.
Q.10. What do you mean by the term 'karyokinesis'?
Ans. Karyokinesis means the division of nucleus
Q.11. What shape would a metacentric and sub-metacentric chromosome exhibit during
the anaphase stage?
Ans.
Types of chromosome Shape Centromere position

Metacentric V Median
 Sub-metacentric L Sub-median

Acrocentric J Sub-terminal

Telocentric 1 Terminal

Q.12. In which stage do the chromatids start moving towards opposite poles?
Ans. Anaphase.
Q.13. Where do spindle fibres attach on the centromere during cell division?
Ans. Spindle fibres attach themselves on the kinetophores during cell division.
Q.14. What does kinetophore consist of?
Ans. It consists of protein and specific sections of chromosomal DNA at the centromere.
Q.15. How does cytokinesis differ in animal and plant cells?
Ans.

Differences between animal and plant are:

cytokinesis
Animal cytokinesis Plant cytokinesis
It occurs by cleavage. It occurs commonly by cell plate
formation.
Spindle starts disappearing in early telophase Spindle persists till half cytokinesis.
stage.
A mid-body of dense material is formed at the Mid-body is not formed.
middle of the cell.

Q.16. Name the chemical which can inhibit cell division during metaphase stage.
Ans. Colchicine inhibits the formation of spindle fibres during metaphase stage.
Q.17. Name the source of colchicine.
Ans. It is obtained from a plant Colchicum autumnale of the family-Liliaceae.
Q.18. What is a phragmoplast?
Ans. It is a cell plate formed in plant cell during cytokinesis. It is formed in the centre which
grows outwardly until it divides the cell into two identical daughter cells completely.
Q.19. How chromatin changes into chromosomes ?
Ans. By losing water and supercoiling. the chromatin becomes compact.
Q.20. Why mitosis is called equational division ?
Ans. Equal chromosome number is maintained in daughter cells.
Q.21. Where do mitotic divisions take place ?
Ans. Mitotic divisions take place in vegetative cells.
Q.22. Differentiate mitosis in plants and animals.
Ans..
S.No. In plants S.No. In animals

1. Cell wall is present. 1. Cell wall is absent.

2. Centriole is absent. 2. Centriole is present.

3. No astral rays are formed. 3. Astral rays are formed.

Q.23. Why root tips should be cut and fixed in early morning hours ?
Ans. Root tip cells have mitotic activity during morning hours when temperature is about 28°C.
Q.24. Why root tips are treated with 1 N HCI ?
Ans. For hydrolysis so that middle lamellae between the cells dissolve.
Q.25. Why we select root tips for above experiment ?
Ans. Root tips have meristematic activity.
Q.26. Why monocots are used to show mitosis for cytological studies 7
Ans. Chromosomes of monocotyledonous plants are large sized so monocots are used for
cytological studies.
Q.27. Name three types of meiosis ?
Ans. Zygotic, gametic and sporic meiosis.
Q.28. What is synapsis ?
Ans. Pairing of homologous chromosomes is called synapsis.
Q.29. What is the significance of crossing over ?
Ans. It helps in exchange of characters and is significant in evolution of new recombinations.
Q.30. Differentiate Mitosis and Meiosis ?
Ans.

Mitosis Meiosis
(C) Only 1 cell division. (D) Two cell divisions.
(D) It occurs in somatic cells. (E) It occurs in reproductive cells.
(E) Prophase is short, simple. (F) Prophase is long composed of 6 stages.
(F) No synapsis and crossing over. (G) Crossing over takes place to exchange the
(G) Only one plane of metaphasic segments.
plate. (H) 2 parallel planes of metaphasic plates.
(H) Centromeres divide during (I) Centromeres divide only in anaphase II.
anaphase. (J) Reductional division.
(I) Equational division.

Q.31. When does crossing over take place ?

Ans. In pachytene stage.
Q.32. What is metaphasic plate ?
Ans. During metaphase centromere lie in a single line thus making a metaphasic plate.
Q.33. Who described the process of mitosis and meiosis for the first time and in which year?
Ans. Mitosis was first described by W. Flemming in 1882; while meiosis was first described by
Winiwarter (1900) and Farmer and Moore coined the term meiosis in 1905.
Q.34. Can a haploid cell divide meiotically?
Ans. No, a haploid cell cannot divide meiotically.
Q.35. What is the significance of crossing over in meiosis?
Ans. During crossing over in meiosis exchange of genetic material between non-sister
chromatids occurs; as a result, the genotype of the cells is altered. So it results in the genetic
recombination and finally helps in the formation of new species.
Q:36. What do you mean by the term karyokinesis?
Ans. Karyokinesis means the division of the nucleus.
Q.37. What is a meiocyte cell?
Ans. A cell that is to divide by meiosis is known as a meiocyte cell.
Q.38. How do you differentiate the chromosomes of mitosis and meiosis?
Ans. Meiotic chromosomes are comparatively longer and thinner. They show a characteristic
beaded appearance by the presence of chromomeres.
Q.39. From one parent cell how many daughter cells will be produced after meiosis and after
mitosis respectively?
Ans. From one parent cell two cells will be produced after mitosis; and four cells after meiosis.
Q.40. At what stage of cell division does nuclear membrane reappear?
Ans. Telophase.
Q.41. In which stage of cell division chromosomes are seen best?
Ans. At metaphase stage.
Q.42. Name the chemical that can arrest the process of cell division at metaphase stage?
Ans. Colchicine.
Q.43. What do you mean by cytokinesis?
Ans. It is the division of the cytoplasm.
Q.44. Suppose a cell has 44 chromosomes. How many chromosomes will it have after mitosis?
Ans. 44. In mitosis the daughter cells produced have the same number of chromosomes as the
parent cell.
Q.45. Suppose we take a cell from a leaf instead of root tip, will mitotic events be seen?
Ans. No, because the cells of leaf do not divide.
Q.46. Why is mitosis termed as ec]national division and meiosis as reduction division?
Ans. Mitosis is equational division because the daughter cells formed are identical to the parent
cell in all respects. Meiosis is reduction division because the daughter cells formed have half the
number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
Q.48. Can you name a process of nuclear division which is neither mitotic nor meiotic?
Ans. Amitosis. In this nucleus simply splits into two halves without any event. It occurs
in Amoeba and only macronucleus of Paramoecium divides amitotically.
Q.49. Why are root tips used as a study material for mitosis?
Ans. Root tips have the meristematic tissue that keeps dividing to form new cells. Hence these
are a good material to study various stages of mitosis.
Q.50. Why do we use acetocarmine as the stain?
Ans. Acetocarmine stains the chromosomes dark red and leaves the cytoplasm unstained.
Q.51. Why are the root tips hydrolysed?
Ans. Hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid (HC1) soften the root tips by breaking down the middle
lamellae between the cells.
Q.52. Why is mitosis called an equational division?
Ans. The two daughter cells formed at the end of mitosis have equal or same number of
chromosomes. The chromosomes are similar qualitatively and quantitatively.
Q.53. What is mitosis?
Ans. Mitosis is a cell division by which a cell divides to produce two daughter cells containing
same number of chromosomes as in the parent cell, thus maintaining the chromosome number
constant.
Q.54. What is karyokinesis?
Ans. If refers to the division of nucleus.
Q.55. What is cytokinesis?
Ans. It refers to the division of cytoplasm.
Q.56. Are centrioles present in the onion root tip cells?
Ans. No.
Q.57. What is the diploid number (2n) of chromosomes in an onion root tip cell?
Ans. Sixteen (2n = 16).
Q.59. At which stage of cell division, the chromosomes are best studied?
Ans. Chromosomes are best studied at metaphase.
Q.60. Why is it so?
Ans. (i) At metaphase, they are condensed and distinct. Each chromosome appears in the
form of two
. distinct chromatids attached by a centromere.
(ii) The chromosomes can be readily counted and distinguished from each other.
(iii) The chromosomes reveal a distinct pattern and each has a specific size and shape.
Q.61. Why do chromosomes appear to be of different shapes?
Ans. Due to the position of centromere, chromosomes acquire different shapes.
Q.62. Why do chromosomes at anaphase have J, V, L or rod shapes?
Ans. These shapes are due to the position of centromere in the chromosomes.
- J-shaped chromosomes have centromere slightly displaced from the centre and so both
arms are unequal.
- V-shaped chromosomes have centromeres right in the centre and so both the arms are equal.
- L or rod-shaped chromosomes have their centromere either at or near the extreme end and
so their one arm is extremely short or negligible and the other very long.
Q.63. Name the chemical that can arrest the process of cell division at metaphase.
Ans. Colchicine.
Q.64. If a cell lias 46 chromosomes (2n = 46), how many chromosomes would each daughter cell
have after mitosis.
Ans. 46.
Q.65. What is the importance of mitosis?
Ans. (i) It results in an increase in number of cells required for body growth.
(ii) It helps in the repair and replacement of lost cells.
(iii) Since the cells formed contain the same number and identical sets of chromosomes, it does
not lead to variation in genetic information.
Q.66. How do you identify the metaphase stage?
Ans. The chromosomes get aligned at the centre of the cell forming an equatorial plate.
Q.67. Name the stage at which splitting of the centromere takes place.
Ans. Anaphase.
Q.68. At which place are chromosome attached to spindle fibres?
Ans. Centromere region.
Q.69. Why should the onion root tips be cut in the early morning hours?
Ans. It is a time of high mitotic activity in the onion root tips.