12.4 Eukaryotic cell cycle

Introduction

These facts show that mitosis is due to the coordinate play of an extremely complex system of forces which are as yet scarcely comprehended.

Wilson was correct in regarding mitosis and cell division as being "extremely complex". But in the century or so that has passed since he wrote those words, we have learned quite a lot about the nature of that complexity. The process has even been given a name: the cell cycle. The cell cycle is an ordered series of events involving cell growth and cell division that produces two new daughter cells. Cells on the path to cell division proceed through a series of precisely timed and carefully regulated stages of growth, DNA replication, and division that produce two genetically identical cells. The cell cycle has two major phases: interphase and the mitotic phase ( [link] ). During interphase , the cell grows and DNA is replicated. During the mitotic phase , the replicated DNA and cytoplasmic contents are separated and the cell divides.

Interphase

During interphase, the cell undergoes normal processes while also preparing for cell division. For a cell to move from interphase to the mitotic phase, many internal and external conditions must be met. The three stages of interphase are called G ₁ , S, and G ₂ .

G ₁ Phase

The first stage of interphase is called the G ₁ phase , or first gap, because little change is visible under the microscope. However, during the G ₁ stage, the cell is quite active at the biochemical level. The cell is accumulating the building blocks of chromosomal DNA and the associated proteins, as well as accumulating enough energy reserves to complete the task of replicating each chromosome in the nucleus.

S phase

Throughout interphase, nuclear DNA remains in a semi-condensed chromatin configuration. In the S phase (synthesis phase), DNA replication results in the formation of two identical copies of each chromosome—sister chromatids—that are firmly attached at the centromere region. At this stage, each chromosome is made of two sister chromatids and is a duplicated chromosome. The centrosome is duplicated during the S phase. The two centrosomes will give rise to the mitotic spindle , the apparatus that orchestrates the movement of chromosomes during mitosis. The centrosome consists of a pair of rod-like centrioles at right angles to each other. Centrioles help organize cell division. Centrioles are not present in the centrosomes of many eukaryotic species, such as plants and most fungi.