MEIOSIS

MEIOSIS, ALSO CALLED REDUCTION DIVISION, DIVISION OF A GERM

CELL INVOLVING TWO FISSIONS OF THE NUCLEUS AND GIVING RISE
TO FOUR GAMETES, OR SEX CELLS, EACH POSSESSING HALF THE
NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES OF THE ORIGINAL CELL.

THE PROCESS OF MEIOSIS IS CHARACTERISTIC OF ORGANISMS THAT

REPRODUCE SEXUALLY. SUCH SPECIES HAVE IN THE NUCLEUS OF
EACH CELL A DIPLOID (DOUBLE) SET OF CHROMOSOMES,
CONSISTING OF TWO HAPLOID SETS (ONE INHERITED FROM EACH
PARENT). THESE HAPLOID SETS ARE HOMOLOGOUS—I.E., THEY
CONTAIN THE SAME KINDS OF GENES, BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN THE
SAME FORM. IN HUMANS, FOR EXAMPLE, EACH SET OF HOMOLOGOUS
CHROMOSOMES CONTAINS A GENE FOR BLOOD TYPE, BUT ONE SET
MAY HAVE THE GENE FOR BLOOD TYPE A AND THE OTHER SET THE
GENE FOR BLOOD TYPE B.

PRIOR TO MEIOSIS, EACH OF THE CHROMOSOMES IN THE DIPLOID

GERM CELL HAS REPLICATED AND THUS CONSISTS OF A JOINED PAIR
OF DUPLICATE CHROMATIDS. MEIOSIS BEGINS WITH THE
CONTRACTION OF THE CHROMOSOMES IN THE NUCLEUS OF THE
DIPLOID CELL. HOMOLOGOUS PATERNAL AND MATERNAL
CHROMOSOMES PAIR UP ALONG THE MIDLINE OF THE CELL. EACH
PAIR OF CHROMOSOMES—CALLED A TETRAD, OR A BIVALENT—
CONSISTS OF FOUR CHROMATIDS. AT THIS POINT, THE
HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES EXCHANGE GENETIC MATERIAL BY
THE PROCESS OF CROSSING OVER (SEE LINKAGE GROUP). THE
HOMOLOGOUS PAIRS THEN SEPARATE, EACH PAIR BEING PULLED TO
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE CELL, WHICH THEN PINCHES IN HALF TO
FORM TWO DAUGHTER CELLS. EACH DAUGHTER CELL OF THIS FIRST
MEIOTIC DIVISION CONTAINS A HAPLOID SET OF CHROMOSOMES.
THE CHROMOSOMES AT THIS POINT STILL CONSIST OF DUPLICATE
CHROMATIDS.

IN THE SECOND MEIOTIC DIVISION, EACH HAPLOID DAUGHTER CELL

DIVIDES. THERE IS NO FURTHER REDUCTION IN CHROMOSOME
NUMBER DURING THIS DIVISION, AS IT INVOLVES THE SEPARATION
OF EACH CHROMATID PAIR INTO TWO CHROMOSOMES, WHICH ARE
PULLED TO THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE DAUGHTER CELLS. EACH
DAUGHTER CELL THEN DIVIDES IN HALF, THEREBY PRODUCING A
TOTAL OF FOUR DIFFERENT HAPLOID GAMETES. WHEN TWO GAMETES
UNITE DURING FERTILIZATION, EACH CONTRIBUTES ITS HAPLOID SET
OF CHROMOSOMES TO THE NEW INDIVIDUAL, RESTORING THE
DIPLOID NUMBER.