1

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Code and Name

Instructors Name

Date
 2

Differences and similarities between mitosis and meiosis.

Living organisms grow and reproduce through cell division. Eukaryotic organisms

produce new cells as a result of mitosis and meiosis processes. The two types of nuclear

division have similarities but they are distinct. Meiosis and Mitosis are two distinct cell

division processes in humans and other living organisms. Mitosis is a process whereby cells

split into half and produce two new cells that have the same number of chromosomes as the

original parent cell. There is a duplication of the parent cell’s DNA. On the other hand,

Meiosis is a form of cell division that produces reproductive cells that takes half of the

chromosomes from the original cell.

Both meiosis and Mitosis have the same purpose; that of passing genetic materials

from one parent cell to many daughter cells. This occurs through the use of the chromosomes

in the nuclei of the cell. Both mitosis and meiosis have stages in their division process that

are similar to one another. Mitotic cell division has four stages namely; prophase, metaphase,

anaphase, and telophase. While Meiosis has eight stages with two rounds of cell division

known as meiosis I and Meiosis II. All the stages are similar, the only exception is metaphase

II where instead of lining up at the center, the chromosomes line up in homologous pair

before they are spread out at the sides of the spindles. Meiosis I, has four stages that are

similar to those of Mitosis, the chromosome is made up of two sister chromatid that pairs up

with chromosomes that are matching this is referred to as homologues. In meiosis II there

will be a separation of chromatid which will lead to the formation of 4 daughter cells each

with half chromosome numbers unlike in Mitosis where there is formation of two sister

chromosomes.
 3

Factors that affect enzyme activity

Enzymes can be described as biological catalysts that enhance the rate of reaction by

lowering the activation energy. They do this by binding to a substrate making the reaction to

occur more efficiently. The enzyme change shapes a bit so that it can tightly fit with the

substrate and form an enzyme-substrate complex. Enzymes are proteins in nature that are

made up of polypeptide chains. Enzymes usually have active sites that give a unique

chemical environment.

Enzymes activity can be influenced by several factors such as temperature, pH,

enzyme/substrate concentration, and substrate specificity.

According to the video “Denaturation of Enzyme”, the below factors are demonstrated to

affect the activity of an enzyme in cells.

1. Temperature: Rising temperature normally increase the rate of reaction, and

reducing temperature slows down the rate of reaction.l Extreme high temperatures,

causes an enzyme to lose its form a process known as denaturing hence become

functionless. very low temperatures also reduce the rate of enzyme action.

2. PH: Each enzyme has a range of pH where it can optimally work. Increasing or

reducing pH out of this range would reduce the rate of action of enzymes. Extremes of

pH can cause the enzyme to denature.

3. Enzyme and substrate concentration: if the substrate to bind is available, raising

enzyme concentration will increase the reaction rate. The reaction speed will not

increase until all of the substrates are bound, the reason being there will be little or no

substrate to bind to the additional enzymes. The reaction rate at some point is also

increased by raising substrate concentration. When all the enzymes are bound, the
 4

reaction rate will not be influenced by an increase in the substrate, as the available

enzymes will be saturated and operate at their optimum rate.

4. Enzyme specificity: Enzymes exhibit specificity that is relative to the specific

reactions they catalyze. This is one of the valuable properties of enzymes that makes

them useful as a research tool. Few enzymes have absolute specificity; this means that

only one particular reaction will be catalyzed by them.