Meiosis: The Start of New Life By: Taylor Marino Audience: Freshmen Biology Students 10/13/13

Audience and Scope

The purpose of this paper is to give an enhanced, easy to understand description of the process of meiosis. I will focus on the steps of the process and describe them in detail to make them easier to understand. The audience for my process description of meiosis is a college freshmen biology class. These students will use this information to better understand sexual reproduction and how gametes are produced. The students may have some knowledge of the process from a high school biology class, but the process can be very confusing and hard to remember. I will try to make the process as easy to understand as possible using a list of key terms, diagrams and simply worded paragraphs. Students could use this description to better understand the process using easier to understand examples than a textbook would use.

Introduction
Meiosis is a biological process in which cells containing genetic information divide to produce four new cells containing half of their genetic information to produce male and female gametes, or eggs and sperm. This process involves four steps: prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. All four steps are carried out twice, with two cell divisions called Meiosis I and Meiosis II, to produce the sperm and eggs which transmit genetic traits from parents to offspring.

Figure 1: An overview Of Meiosis

Background Information and Key Terms to Understand

The process of meiosis is a complex and sometimes confusing process to understand, so lets start off with some background information. Meiosis is only performed in sexually reproductive organisms, such as animals and plants and helps to increase genetic diversity. The cells that divide begin with twice the amount of genetic information they have once meiosis has completed, due to the cells chromosomal duplication previous to meiosis to form two exact copies. These copies of chromosomes split twice to form the male and female gamete cells (sperm and eggs). The gamete cells can then combine their genetic information with the information from a gamete from a member of the opposite sex during sexual reproduction to form an offspring. Prior to the start of meiosis, the cells genetic information is contained in a membrane bound compartment called the nucleolus that protects the information. Outside of the nucleolus is the cell membrane. Inside the cell membrane, two centrosomes form at the top of the cell, which will be better explained later when they come into use. All of these parts of the cell are explained in the key terms section. The diagrams used, and most diagrams in textbooks, show a cell containing two different types of chromosomes that duplicate, usually a larger and smaller pair. Although actual cells contain more than two types of chromosomes, this is the easiest to draw and understand. Some key terms to understand: Chromosomes carry genetic information in a cell Diploid cells cells that have duplicated their chromosomes and possess 2 copies of their genetic information Haploid cells cells that have divided and contain half of their original genetic information Leg of the chromosome one of the four pieces of the X shaped chromosome (look at the letter X, each branch coming out from the middle of the letter is a leg) Nucleolus membrane bound compartment containing the cells genetic information Centrosomes assist in pulling apart chromosomes Centrioles split apart centrosomes and form meiotic spindles Sister chromatids (shown in figure 2) another word for the duplicated chromosomes that pair up and attach to one another Meiotic spindles attach to the chromosomes to pull them apart (they attach to a chromosome pair in meiosis I and to the kinetochores in meiosis II) Cleavage furrow a fold in the cell membrane in telophase 1 where the original diploid cell splits to form two haploid cells. Kinetochores centers of chromosomes

Meiosis I The Process Begins

At this point, we have a cell containing pairs of replicated chromosomes ready to divide. We will now go over each step in Meiosis I and explain what happens in each part.

Step 1: Prophase 1
During prophase 1, the chromosomes condense and concentrate their genetic information. The diagrams show chromosomes as Xs, and chromosomes that share information about the same genes line up next to one another and are similar colors. Pieces of the legs of the chromosomes break off and attach to its partner with genetic information of the same gene. This links the two chromosomes and helps each chromosome diversify and increase genetic diversity, which decreases the chances of complications and defects in the offspring. The nucleolus is disposed of as well so the chromosomes can divide properly. The centrosomes also move to the outsides of the middle of the cell to help pull the chromosomes apart. When the centrosomes move and split apart they are called centrioles.

Figure 2

Step 2: Metaphase 1
During metaphase 1, the centrioles move opposite from one another and form meiotic spindles. The paired chromosomes move to the center of the cell in-between the centrosomes, which is referred to as the metaphase plate. Here the chromosomes are extremely condense and pack tightly in the middle of the cell. The spindles grab onto each side of the paired chromosomes to pull the linked chromosome pair apart.

Figure 3

Step 3: Anaphase 1
During anaphase 1, the paired chromosomes pull apart from one another. They keep one leg of information from their partner, and now have different genetic information from when they started. The chromosomes are still X shaped, but now shared a leg colored the same as their partner. The two chromosomes gravitate to opposite sides of the cell close to the centrioles with the help of the spindles. The cell is preparing to take the information from the two sets of chromosomes with unrelated genetic information on either side and split them into two separate new cells.

Figure 4

Step 4: Telophase 1
During telophase 1, the two different chromosomes of each set are at completely opposite sides from one another near the centrioles. The spindles are gone and a nucleolus again forms around the chromosomes on both sides. Then, a fold is formed in the cell membrane wall called the cleavage furrow, where the one original cell splits and forms two haploid cells. Each cell contains one copy of genetic of information from the two different sets of chromosomes present. The two new haploid cells then prepare to repeat the process again in Meiosis II.

Figure 5

Meiosis II The Process Repeats

In Meiosis II, the two haploid cells produced in the previous steps prepare to divide further. The steps are almost exactly the same but I will highlight the main differences in each. Also, the chromosomes in each new cell do not replicate again like they did before the start of Meiosis I.

Prophase 2 Differences:
Prophase 2 is exactly the same as prophase 1, except there is no sharing of genetic information because the sets of chromosomes present in the two cells are unrelated. The nucleolus is dissolved again and the two sets of chromosomes in each cell move to the center of the cell

Figure 6

Metaphase 2 Differences:
The only difference in metaphase 2 is the spindles that attached to the legs of the chromosomes in metaphase 1 now attach to the middle of the unrelated chromosomes. The legs of each unrelated chromosome will be pulled apart from their centers, called kinetochores.

Figure 7

Anaphase 2 Differences:
Each leg of the original unrelated chromosomes are pulled to the opposite sides of the cell instead of the entire chromosome.

Figure 8

Telophase 2 Differences:
Four new cells are made from the two formed in Meiosis 1, containing two legs from each original chromosome and the gametes are formed. They are ready for sexual reproduction.

Figure 9

Conclusion
Meiosis is a vital biological process. Without it, we wouldnt have new life in sexually reproducing organisms. Also, there would be no genetic diversity and we would all be clones of one another, think about what a boring world it would be. In order for all of us to have individual characteristics, the process of meiosis must carry out correctly. Each step in Meiosis I and II is important to the production of haploid gamete cells which reconnect to form a new diploid organism that can grow and become a new member of a species. Without meiosis, new life would not exist.

Works Cited
Information
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/mei2ani.html

Figures
Figure 1: http://www.tokresource.org/tok_classes/biobiobio/biomenu/meiosis/meiosis.jpg Figure 2: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/proi.html Figure 3: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/metai.html Figure 4: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/anai.html Figure 5: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/teloi.html Figure 6: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/proii.html Figure 7: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/metaii.html Figure 8: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/anaii.html Figure 9: http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/meiosis/teloii.html