Question

Polar bodies are small cells which bud off from an oocyte at the two meiotic divisions and do not develop into ova.

• A. True
• B. False

Answer 1

The correct option is A

True

Oogonia start division, enter into prophase-I of the meiotic division and get temporarily arrested at that stage, and are called primary oocytes at this point. At the onset of puberty, the primary oocyte within the tertiary follicle grows in size and completes its first meiotic division. It is an unequal division, resulting in the formation of a large haploid secondary oocyte and a tiny first polar body. The polar body formed is merely a tiny byproduct and is extruded from the follicle. These cells commit suicide i.e., they kill themselves by a process known as apoptosis and do not develop further. The secondary oocyte however, begins the second meiotic division, which like the first, is arrested midway, but this time at metaphase II.