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Mitosis(2of3):MechanismofMitosis(BioFlixtutorial)
Duringmitosis,duplicated
chromosomes(eachconsisting
ofapairofsisterchromatids)
thatformedduringinterphase
separatewithintheparentcell
andaredistributedtotwo
identicaldaughternuclei.The
mechanismofmitosisinvolves
coordinatedchangesin
chromosomestructure,the
mitoticspindle,andthenuclear
envelope.
Inthistutorial,youwillidentify
thestagesofmitosisshownin
micrographsofdividinganimal
cellsandreviewtheinteractions
betweenchromosomesandthe
mitoticspindlethatleadtothe
separationofeachpairofsisterchromatids.
Beforebeginningthistutorial,youmaywanttoreviewthestagesofmitosisdepictedintheMitosisanimation.

PartAIdentifyingthestagesofmitosis
Thestagesofmitosiswereoriginallydefinedbycellularfeaturesobservablethroughalightmicroscope.Thesixmicrographsbelowshowanimalcells
(lungcellsfromanewt)duringthefivestagesofmitosis,pluscytokinesis.(Notethatinterphaseisnotrepresentedinthesemicrographs.)Inthese
images,thechromosomeshavebeenstainedblue,microtubulesgreen,andmicrofilamentsred.
Drageachmicrographtothetargetthatindicatesthestageofmitosisorcytokinesisitshows.

Hint1.Howcanyoudistinguishbetweenprophaseandprometaphase?
Prophaseandprometaphasearesequentialstagesinmitosisthatsetupthecellfornucleardivision.
Sortthefollowingeventsaccordingtowhethertheyoccurinprophase,inprometaphase,orinneitherofthesestages.
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Hint2.Chromosomepositioninmetaphase
Metaphaseischaracterizedbythealignmentofthechromosomesalongthemetaphaseplate,aplaneequidistantfromthepolesofthespindle.
Althoughmetaphaseisoftenillustratedwithallthechromosomesneatlyalignedalongthemetaphaseplate,thisisnotalwaysthecase.Inreal
cells,thearmsofeachchromosomemayextendsomedistanceawayfromthemetaphaseplate,andonlythecentromereofeachchromosome
maybealignedonthemetaphaseplate.

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Hint3.Whatarethekeycharacteristicsofanaphase,telophase,andcytokinesis?
Inanaphaseandtelophase,thechromosomesseparateandtwodaughternucleiareformed.Incytokinesis,thecytoplasmofthecelldivides.
Sortthefollowingprocessesintotheappropriatebintoindicatetheearlieststageinwhichtheprocesscanbeobservedinananimal
cell.
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Correct
Asthesesixmicrographsdemonstrate,cellulareventsobservablebylightmicroscopycanbeusedtodefinethesixstagesofmitosisand
cytokinesis.However,decipheringwhichstageiswhichinrealcellscanbemuchmorechallengingthaninthedrawingsofidealizedcellsyouseein
yourtextbook.Thus,itisimportanttocarefullyobservethecompletenessofthemitoticspindleandthelocationofthechromosomes,aswellas
howcondensedthechromosomesare.

PartBMechanismsunderlyingtheeventsofmitosis
Mitosisunfoldsthroughasequenceofstagesmarkedbyspecificeventsinthecell.Thestructuralchangesinthecellarebroughtaboutbyaseriesof
tightlycoordinatedunderlyingmechanisms.
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Sorteachprocessintotheappropriatebintoindicatethestageofmitosisinwhichitoccurs.Ifaprocessoccursinmorethanonestage,sortit
tothestagewhenitfirstoccurs.

Hint1.Metaphase:dividingmitosisintotwogroupsofcellularevents
Inmetaphase,thecentromeresoftheduplicatedchromosomesalignalongthemetaphaseplate,midwaybetweenthepolesofthecell.

Tohelpyousorttheprocessesinthisquestion,considerthatmanyofthecellulareventsthatprecedemetaphasearereversedaftermetaphase.
Forexample,priortometaphase,theDNAcondensesinpreparationforchromosomeseparation.Aftermetaphase,theDNAdecondensesonce
chromosomeseparationiscomplete.

Hint2.Whichproteinsareinvolvedinchangestocellularstructuresduringmitosis?
Manyofthechangesinstructurethatoccurinstagesofmitosispriortometaphasepreparethecellfortheseparationofthechromosomes.These
changesarereversedinthestagesfollowingmetaphase,afterthechromosomeshaveseparated.Severalproteinsareinvolvedinthesechanges.
Dragthetermsonthelefttotheappropriateblanksontherighttocompletethesentences.Notalltermswillbeused.
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Reset

motorprotein(s)
actin(s)

Help

1.Inastagepriortometaphase, cohesin(s) areinvolvedinholdingsisterchromatidstogether.Ina

stageaftermetaphase,cleavageoftheseproteinspermitsthesisterchromatidstoseparate.
2.Inastagepriortometaphase,themitoticspindleisassembledfromindividual tubulin(s)
molecules.Atastageaftermetaphase,themitoticspindledisassembles.

Hint3.Duringmitosis,whatisthesequenceofeventsinvolvingkinetochores?
Kinetochoresareassembliesofproteinsthatfunctioninattachingthechromosomestothemitoticspindle.Bytheendofprometaphase,each
sisterchromatidofaduplicatedchromosomehasakinetochorelocatedatitscentromere.
Insometypesofcells,thekinetochorecontainsmotorproteinsthatareresponsibleformovingchromosomesalongthespindle
microtubules(seediagrambelow).
Inothertypesofcells,thechromosomesarepulledtowardthepolesbymotorproteinsassociatedwiththecentrosomes.Inthese
cells,thekinetochoreonlyattachesthechromosometothemitoticspindle.

Consideracellinwhichchromosomemovementalongthemitoticspindleisaccomplishedbymotorproteinsinthekinetochores.
Dragthelabelsontotheflowcharttoshowthecorrectsequenceofeventsinkinetochorefunctionduringmitosis.
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ThemicrographsinPartAshowsomeofthecellularprocessesthatoccurduringthestagesofmitosis.
Inprophase,themicrotubulesofthespindleapparatusbegintoassemblefromindividualtubulinsubunits.Astheidenticalchromatids
ofeachpairofsisterchromatidscondenseduringthisstage,theyareheldtogetherbycohesinproteins.
Prometaphaseismarkedbyfragmentationofthenuclearenvelope,expansionofthespindleintothenuclearregion,andattachmentof
somespindlefiberstothechromosomesviathekinetochores.
Metaphase,markedbythealignmentofchromsomesalongthemetaphaseplate,isbroughtaboutbykinetochoresaligningandthen
remainingmotionlessrelativetothepolesofthecell.
Inanaphase,thecohesinproteinsarecleaved,andthekinetochoresmovetowardthepolesofthecell,separatingthesister
chromatids.
Astelophaseproceeds,thekinetochoremicrotubulesofthespindledisassemble.Asthechromosomesreachthepolesofthecell,the
nuclearenvelopesofthetwonewdaughternucleiform.

PartCThemitoticspindle
Themitoticspindleconsistsoftwotypesofmicrotubules:kinetochoremicrotubulesandnonkinetochoremicrotubules.Inanimalcells,thesetwotypesof
microtubulesfunctiondifferentlyinthestagesofmitosis.
Completethesentencesbydraggingthelabelstotheappropriatelocations.Labelsmaybeusedonce,morethanonce,ornotatall.

Hint1.Constructionofthemitoticspindleintheearlystagesofmitosis
Thecentrosomesaretheorganizingcentersforthemitoticspindle.ThecentrosomesreplicateduringG2ofinterphaseatthebeginningofmitosis,
thecentrosomesareadjacenttooneanother.
Asprophaseprogresses,thecentrosomesmoveapartandtowardthepolesofthecellasthemicrotubulesextendingfromeachcentrosome
lengthen.Thislengtheningoccursintheregionofoverlapbetweenthemicrotubulesandforcesthecentrosomesfurtherapart.

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Hint2.Howdokinetochoreandnonkinetochoremicrotubulesdiffer?
Bothkinetochoreandnonkinetochoremicrotubulesarecomponentsofthemitoticspindle,buttheyservedifferentfunctionsduringmitosis.Can
youidentifytherolesofthesetwotypesofmicrotubulesinanimalcells?
Dragthetermsonthelefttotheappropriateblanksontherighttocompletethesentences.Termscanbeusedonce,morethanonce,or
notatall.
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Hint3.Howdononkinetochoremicrotubulesfunctionduringanaphase?

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Inanimalcells,whilethechromosomesmovetowardthepolesofthecellduringanaphase,thenonkinetochoremicrotubulescausethecellto
elongate.Thenonkinetochoremicrotubulesformpairs(onefromeachcentrosome),whichoverlapandareincontactwitheachothernearthe
metaphaseplate.
Whichtwostatementscorrectlydescribehowthenonkinetochoremicrotubulescauseananimalcelltoelongateduringanaphase?
Selectthetwostatementsthatapply.
ANSWER:
Eachpairofnonkinetochoremicrotubuleslengthensatthecentrosome.
Thenonkinetochoremicrotubulesmovepasteachotherintheregionwheretheyoverlap.
Eachpairofnonkinetochoremicrotubuleslengthensattheoverlappingendsnearthemetaphaseplate.

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Themitoticspindleisthemachinerythatguidestheseparationofchromosomesinanaphase.
Priortometaphase,themitoticspindleisconstructedbylengtheningmicrotubulesthatextendfromeachcentrosome.
Inmetaphase,thekinetochoremicrotubuleshaveattachedeachpairofsisterchromatids,andthenonkinetochoremicrotubulesoverlap
extensivelyatthemetaphaseplate.
Duringanaphase,thekinetochoremicrotubulesshortenasthechromosomesmovetowardthepolesofthecell.Atthesametime,the
nonkinetochoremicrotubuleslengthenandpushpasteachother,elongatingthecell.
Bytheendoftelophase,allthemicrotubulesassociatedwiththemitoticspindlehavedisassembled.

PartDRolesofthemitoticspindle
Considerananimalcellinwhichmotorproteinsinthekinetochoresnormallypullthechromosomesalongthekinetochoremicrotubulesduringmitosis.
Suppose,however,thatduringmetaphase,thiscellwastreatedwithaninhibitorthatblocksthefunctionofthemotorproteinsinthekinetochore,but
allowsthekinetochoretoremainattachedtothespindle.Theinhibitorhasnoeffectonanyothermitoticprocess,includingthefunctionofthe
nonkinetochoremicrotubules.

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Considerthreequestionsconcerningtheanimalcellthathasbeentreatedwiththeinhibitor.Dragthelabelstoanswerthequestions.Labels
maybeusedonce,morethanonce,ornotatall.

Hint1.Howtoapproachquestion1Willthecellelongate?
PartCofthistutorialreviewedtheprocessesthatleadtocellelongationduringmitosisinanimalcells.Thecellularstructuresmostclosely
associatedwithcellelongationduringmitosisarethenonkinetochoremicrotubules.Doestheinhibitoraffectthefunctionofthenonkinetochore
microtubules?

Hint2.Howtoapproachquestion2Willthesisterchromatidsseparate?
Thecellularstructuresthataremostimportantinseparationofthesisterchromatids(aftertheyhavebecomedisconnectedfromeachother)are
thekinetochoremicrotubules.Readcarefullyabouttheeffectoftheinhibitorandthinkthroughthefollowingquestions:
Doestheinhibitorblockthefunctionofthekinetochoresinchromosomemovement?
Doestheinhibitorcausethechromosomestodisconnectfromthekinetochoremicrotubules?
Arethechromosomesconnectedtothecentrosomesbythekinetochoremicrotubules?
Arethereotherprocessesgoingoninthecellthatarecausingthecentrosomestomovefartherapart?
Willtheseprocessesalsoaffectthepositionofthechromosomes?

Hint3.Howtoapproachquestion3Willthechromosomesmovetothepolesofthecell?
Inthistypeofcell,motorproteinsinthekinetochoreareresponsibleformovingthechromosomesalongthekinetochoremicrotubules.Isany
componentofthismachineryaffectedbytheinhibitortreatment?Ifso,willthechromosomesbeabletomovetothepolesofthecell?
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Theinhibitordoesnotaffectthecleavageofcohesins(theproteinsthatholdthesisterchromatidstogether),theattachmentofthechromosomesto
thekinetochoremicrotubules,ortheelongationofthecellduetothenonkinetochoremicrotubules.Theinhibitoronlyaffectsthemotorproteinthat
pullsthechromosomealongthekinetochoremicrotubuleinanaphase.
Thus,inthetreatedcell,thesisterchromatidscanstillseparateatthebeginningofanaphaseduetothefactthatthecelliselongating(the
centrosomesatthepolesofthecellaremovingfartherapart)andthekinetochoremicrotubulesstillconnectthechromosomestothecentrosomes.
However,becausethechromosomescannotmovealongthekinetochoremicrotubules,theywillneverreachthepolesofthecell.

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