Question

Distinguish between mitosis and meiosis.

Answer 1

	Mitosis	Meiosis
i)	In this, the nucleus divides only once.	In this, the nucleus divides twice (Meiosis I and Meiosis II)
ii)	In this, two daughter cells are formed.	In this, four daughter cells are formed.
iii)	It occurs in somatic cells and stem cells	It occurs in germ cells.
iv)	Daughter cells formed by mitotic division are diploid (2n).	Daughter cells formed by meiotic division are haploid (n).
v)	Mitosis plays an important role in growth, repair, healing, and development.	Meiosis is important for the formation of haploid gametes and spores.
vi)	It is also known as equational division, as the daughter cell has the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.	Meiosis I is known as the reductional division where the chromosome number is reduced to half. Meiosis II is known as the equational division, where the sister chromatids separate while the chromosome number remains the same.
vii)	The prophase stage is short and does not comprise synapsis, crossing over, and the formation of chiasmata.	The prophase I stage is very long. It comprises five stages. In the zygotene stage of meiosis I, the pairing of homologous chromosomes takes place. During the pachytene stage, crossing over occurs, while in the diplotene stage, chiasmata formation occurs.