Distinguish between mitosis and meiosis.

Distinguish Between

	Mitosis	Meiosis
1.	In this, the nucleus divides only once.	In this, the nucleus divides twice (Meiosis I and Meiosis II)
2.	Two daughter cells are formed.	Four daughter cells are formed.
3.	It occurs in somatic cells and stem cells	It occurs in germ cells.
4.	Daughter cells formed by mitotic division are diploid (2n).	Daughter cells formed by meiotic division are haploid (n).
5.	Mitosis plays an important role in growth, repair, healing, and development.	Meiosis is important for the formation of haploid gametes and spores.
6.	It is also known as equational division because the daughter cells have the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.	Meiosis I is known as reductional division because the chromosome number is halved. Meiosis II is known as equational division because sister chromatids separate while the chromosome number remains the same.
7.	The prophase stage is short and does not involve synapsis, crossing over, or chiasmata formation.	Prophase I is very long and consists of five stages. In zygotene, homologous chromosomes pair. In pachytene, crossing over occurs, and in diplotene, chiasmata are formed.