Amitosis (a- + mitosis) is cell proliferation that does not occur by mitosis, the mechanism usually identified as essential for cell division in eukaryotes. The polyploid macronucleus found in Ciliates divides mitotically. While normal mitosis results in a precise division of parental alleles amitosis result in a random distribution of parental alleles.
Ploidy levels of >1000 in some species means both parental alleles can be maintained over many generations, while species with fewer numbers of each chromosome will tend to become homozygous for one or the other parental allele through a process known as phenotypic or allelic assortment.