What is cytokinesis?

What is cytokinesis?

• A. Division of the cytoplasm.
• B. Division of the nucleus.
• C. Condensation of chromosomes.
• D. Spindle apparatus formation.

Answer: (A)

Cytokinesis is the division of the cytoplasm, completing cell division after the chromosomes have been segregated. Once the nucleus has formed two nuclei, the cytoplasm must split to create two distinct daughter cells. In animal cells, an actin-based contractile ring tightens the cell membrane to form a cleavage furrow that pinches the cell into two. In plant cells, vesicles fuse at the center to build a cell plate that eventually becomes separating cell walls, yielding two cells. The other events—condensation of chromosomes and spindle apparatus formation—happen earlier during mitosis, not during cytokinesis. So cytokinesis is the physical division of the cytoplasm that finishes producing two daughter cells.

Cytokinesis is the division of the cytoplasm, completing cell division after the chromosomes have been segregated. Once the nucleus has formed two nuclei, the cytoplasm must split to create two distinct daughter cells. In animal cells, an actin-based contractile ring tightens the cell membrane to form a cleavage furrow that pinches the cell into two. In plant cells, vesicles fuse at the center to build a cell plate that eventually becomes separating cell walls, yielding two cells. The other events—condensation of chromosomes and spindle apparatus formation—happen earlier during mitosis, not during cytokinesis. So cytokinesis is the physical division of the cytoplasm that finishes producing two daughter cells.