Question

Differentiate between Mitotic prophase and Meiotic prophase I ?

Answer 1

1. During mitotic prophase chromosome shorten by thickening. Each chromosome consists of two chromatids joined by a centromere. Nuclear membrane tends to disintegrate. Nucleolus starts to disappearing at this moment then centrioles move to opposite poles of the cell.
2. Meiotic prophase is the most important stage of meiosis and it is the longest phase in Meiosis and it is further divided into five stages. Homologous chromosomes come close together to form a pair called bivalent. A bivalent has two chromosome, one maternal and one paternal. The pairing of chromosome is known as synapsis.

Mitotic prophase	Meiotic prophase I
1. Shorter duration with sub stages compared to meiotic prophase.	1. Longest duration with five successive stages.
2. Homologous chromosomes remain separate.	2. Homologous chromosomes come close together to form a pair called bivalent. A bivalent has two chromosome, one maternal and one paternal.
3. No pairing of homologous chromosome and no recombination and crossing over.	3. Crossing over occurs leading to exchange of chromatid segments.