Question

Why is cleavage not possible in plant cells?

Answer 1

Cleavage:

1. Cleavage is defined as the division of a fertilized egg.
2. It leads to the formation of an embryo from a zygote.
3. It takes place only in animal cells.

Division in plant cells:

1. Since the rigid cell walls of plants cannot be pulled inwards thus cleavage is not possible in plant cells.
2. As a consequence, in the plant cells, cytokinesis begins roughly halfway between daughter nuclei with the formation of a cell plate in the cytoplasm.
3. The cell plate is derived from the Golgi complex and the endoplasmic reticulum and is formed by some pectin-containing vesicles.
4. These vesicles accumulate in the center of the dividing cell and unite together forming a plate of dense cisternae known as phragmoplast, which extends from the center towards the periphery to reach the plasma membrane.