Everything about Cell Division totally explained
Cell division is a process by which a
cell, called the parent cell, divides into two cells, called
daughter cells. Cell division is usually a small segment of a larger
cell cycle. This type of cell division is known as mitosis, and leaves the daughter cell capable of dividing again. In another type of cell division present only in eukaryotes, called
meiosis, a cell is permanently transformed into a gamete and can't divide again until fertilization.
For simple
unicellular organisms such as the
Amoeba, one cell division is equivalent to
reproduces-- an entire new organism is created. On a larger scale, mitotic cell division can create progeny from multicellular organisms, such as plants that grow from cuttings. Cell division also enables
sexually reproducing organisms to develop from the one-celled
zygote, which itself was produced by cell division from
gametes. And after growth, cell division allows for continual renewal and repair of the organism. A human being's body experiences about 10,000 trillion cell divisions in a lifetime.
The primary concern of cell division is the maintenance of the original cell's
genome. Before division can occur, the genomic information which is stored in
chromosomes must be replicated, and the duplicated genome separated cleanly between cells. A great deal of cellular infrastructure is involved in keeping genomic information consistent between "generations".
Variants
Cells are classified into two categories: simple, non-nucleated
prokaryotic cells, and complex, nucleated
eukaryotic cells. By dint of their structural differences,
eukaryotic and
prokaryotic cells don't divide in the same way.
Furthermore, the pattern of cell division that transforms eukaryotic
stem cells into gametes (
sperm in males or
ova in females) is different from that of eukaryotic
somatic (non-germ) cells.
Prokaryotic cells
Prokaryotic cells are generally much more simple in structure when compared to eukaryotic cells. They contain non-membranous organelles, lack a
cell nucleus, and have a simplistic genome: Prokaryotic genome isn't enclosed within a membrane. The genetic material is a single circular DNA and is contained in the Cytoplasm (only one circular
chromosome of limited size). Therefore, prokaryotic cell division, a process known as
binary fission, is fast.
The chromosome is duplicated prior to division. The two copies of the chromosome attach to opposing sides of the cellular membrane.
Cytokinesis, the physical separation of the cell, occurs immediately. Prokaryotic cells, found only among bacteria and archaea (special kind of prokaryotes), have a cell wall outside, the cell membrane and lack membrane bound organelles. Prokaryotes have only one copy of each gene and thus are haploid organisms.Prokaryotic genes are expressed in either moncistronic or polycistronic transcriptional units:Monocistronic units encode a single gene product or Polycistronic units allow the expression of multiple gene products.
Eukaryotic cells
Eukaryotic cells consist of:
1- Cell membrane.
2- Many organelles, which represent the functional components for storage, excretion, digestion and
3- Nucleus (centre of the cell), it contains all the vital information needed by the cell or the whole organism to function, grow and reproduce.
Eukaryotic cells are found in humans, plants and animals, also algae, and protozoa. Eukaryotic cells have both a cellular membrane and a nuclear membrane. Eukaryotic genome is more complex than that of prokaryotes and distributed among multiple chromosomes.
- Mitosis: The division of the parent nucleus into two daughter nuclei, separating the duplicated genome into two sets, each identical to the parent cell's genome.
- Cytokinesis: The pinching and division of the cell membrane and cytoplasm, separating the recently divided nuclei, the organelles, and other cellular components.
- Meiosis: The division of the nucleus in sex cells that reduces the diploid number of chromosomes to a haploid number in order to facilite sexual reproduction.
Examples of cell division in multicellular eukariotic organisms include repair, growth, and development. An injury or wound is healed when the cells exposed by the injury divide at an excellerated rate until they come into contact with other cells. After this the cells return to a more typical division rate. Cell division causes an organism to grow as long as the rate of cell division exceeds normal cell death. As cells divide and become more numerous they're located in more diverse physical and chemical environments. These variations in local conditions influence the cells to alter gene expression causing the cells to differentiate and become more specialized allowing an organism to develop.
Degradation
Multicellular organisms replace worn-out cells through cell division. In some animals, however, cell division eventually halts. In
humans this occurs on average, after 52 divisions, known as the
Hayflick limit. The cell is then referred to as
senescent. Senescent cells deteriorate and die, causing the body to age. Cells stop dividing because the
telomeres, protective bits of DNA on the end of a
chromosome, become shorter with each division and eventually can no longer protect the chromosome.
Cancer cells, on the other hand, are immortal. An
enzyme called
telomerase, present in large quantites in cancerous cells, rebuilds the telomeres, allowing division to continue indefinitely.
Further Information
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