Observation of an Onion Root Tip, Allium
Madison Gladden
Genetics: BIOL 3034
Dr. Yamashita
02/18/2016
Introduction Mitotic division plays a key role in the growth of the root tip of an onion, genus Allium. More specifically, mitosis is responsible for the way in which the root tip elongates. The cells spend a certain amount of time in each stage of mitosis. Assuming a 24hr cycle, the time for each mitotic stage can be calculated as the duration. In Allium, mitosis occurs at different rates in different regions of the root tip. The regions are divided into the region of cell division, elongation, and maturation. The region of cell division can be further divided into zones IA, IB, IC, II, III, and IV.
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This zone had the highest index, showing that the cells of that zone most frequently divide. The cells in zone IV are the least likely to divide, since they had the lowest mitotic index (Table 2). The class results show zone IA as having the highest mitotic index, which is the area just above the root cap. The class results still show zone IV as having the least mitotic division (Table 2). With zone IB set at 100% for the student results, the mitotic indexes increase between zones IA and IB, and the decline in the subsequent zones (Figure 1). With zone IA set at 100%, the mitotic indexes for the class are seen to steadily decrease as the zones move further up the root (Figure 1).
Conclusion:
Allium cells spend the most of their mitotic phase in prophase (class results) and anaphase (student results). Ascaris lumbricoides cells spend most of their mitotic phase in telophase. In the Allium root tip, it is seen that mitotic division decreases as the distance from the root cap increases. The areas of highest mitotic division was seen to be in zone IA (class results) and IB (student results), which are that areas closest to the root cap.
The leptotene. This phase differs only slightly from the early stages of mitosis. Usually are the cells and nuclei of meiotic tissues bigger than that of their neighbouring tissues and often do they seem to be longer and are longitudinally structured. At regular intervals can thickenings be found, like beads on a string: the chromomeres. Their number, size and positioning is constant in each species.
Exercise 3A is a study of mitosis. You will simulate the stages of mitosis by using chromosome models.You will use prepared slides of onion root tips to study plant mitosis and to calculate the relative duration of the phases of mitosis in the meristem of root tissue. Prepared slides of the whitefish blastula will be used to study mitosis in animal cells and to compare animal mitosis and plant mitosis.
In this experiment first the stages of an onion cell undergoing mitosis are going to be observed and every stage is going to be detected and drawn on paper. A brief description to what is going on should be attached to the pictures. This is important to understand the basics of cell division which is necessary growth,repair and asexual reproduction. Second the number of cells undergoing each phase is going to be counted to figure out in which phase the cell remains the most. If interphase is the stage in which the cell grows and prepares for cell division then the
Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to calculate the amount of time that was spent by a cell in each of the phases of mitosis. Also, it is used to be able to compare the process of mitosis between plant and animal cells.
These bivalents line up along the equator during metaphase I, the arrangement of the bivalent is completely random and relative to the orientation of the other bivalents, this is known as the independent assortment of chromosomes. This is followed by anaphase I where the homologous chromosomes separate and move to the opposite poles of the cell. At telophase I the cell divides into two, each cell contains one chromosome from each homologous pair. The second stage of meiosis is similar to mitosis.
The mole is a convenient unit for analyzing chemical reactions. Avogadro’s number is equal to the mole. The mass of a mole of any compound or element is the mass in grams that corresponds to the molecular formula, also known as the atomic mass. In this experiment, you will observe the reaction of iron nails with a solution of copper (II) chloride and determine the number of moles involved in the reaction. You will determine the number of moles of copper produced in the reaction of iron and copper (II) chloride, determine the number of moles of iron used up in the reaction of iron and copper (II) chloride, determine the ratio of moles of iron to moles of copper, and determine the number of atoms and formula units involved in
Mitosis and meiosis are similar in several ways and different in others. The similarities include that both processes involve IPMAT. IPMAT is interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. The parent cells are diploid. They both end with cytokinesis. In Metaphase and Metaphase II, the sister chromatids line up along the center. Then in Anaphase and Anaphase II, these chromatids are split and pulled towards the centrosomes. The differences are that mitosis consists of 1 division while meiosis consists of 2. Four genetically different, haploid sex cells are the products of meiosis and 2 identical, diploid somatic cells from mitosis. Mitosis occurs in all organisms except viruses and meiosis only occurs in plants, animals, and fungi.
2. In which phases of mitosis are sister chromatids visible, and attached to each other at the centromere?
Although mitosis is just a fraction of time compared to interphase it can be divided into four distinct subphases. If we start viewing a cell under a brightfield microscope right at the end of interphase subphase G2 we would see that throughout the interphase process (fig 1) the cell has grown considerably in size due to production of extra mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. The cell has also gone through the labor of duplicating all of its chromosomes, a process known as DNA synthesis. Now that the cell has made all of these preparations it's time to start prophase (fig 2), the first stage of the mitotic phase. This stage is visibly identified by the chromatin becoming the tightly formed chromosomes. During the lab we were able to view these newly formed chromosomes best on the onion root tip
3. Switch to high power and center your slide in the apical meristem region, so that you have a field of view in which there is a wide selection of cells in various stages of mitosis (including interphase). Be sure to adjust your light for optimum viewing. Refer to Figure 3A, 3B, 3C: Stages of mitosis in onion root tip cells for guidance.
cell will look just like any other 'normal' cell although this is far from the
To observe mitosis in onion root tip cells and record the different phases of mitosis.
This study was performed in order to gain more knowledge on mitosis and meiosis. This lab was done by observing mitosis in plant and animal cells, comparing the relative lengths of the stages of mitosis in onion root tip cells, stimulating the stages of meiosis, observing evidence of crossing-over in meiosis using Sordaria fimicola, and estimating the distance of a gene locus from its centromere. Mitosis is the scientific term for nuclear cell division, where the nucleus of the cell divides, resulting in two sets of identical chromosomes. Mitosis is accompanied by cytokinesis in which the end result is two completely separate cells called daughter cells. There are four phases of mitosis: prophase, metaphase, anaphase and
Plants are organisms that can reproduce sexually through meiosis and create more cells through mitosis (Russell et al. 2013). For studying mitosis, the common onion is an ideal choice. Because it is easy for onions to germinate without soil, it is easy to control any substances provided to the plant. The onion root tips are only a few cells thick and grow quickly making them ideal for time efficiency. The onion root tip needs to be squashed between the cover slip and the microscope in order to reduce the slide preparation’s total depth. To dye condensed chromosomes, such as those undergoing mitosis, a stain is used to make
Making the onion tip root cell slide was successful. Our results supported the hypothesis because we saw cells in the onion root tip in prophase, metaphase, and anaphase. As we went up in power objectives, each phase of the cell became more definitive. The cell root was a great indicator of the structures of the different cycles of the cell. This is important because we will be prepared for future labs working with the microscopes and can now adjust it for the best view of the slide. We practiced working with the compound light microscopes and different phases of the cell cycle. Onion root tips are useful to observe mitosis because the cells are frequently diving as the root grows. So when we stained the cell, we caught many cells in different phases. The significance of this lab was to better understand the process and stages of mitosis and meiosis and compare and contrast the mitotic process in plants and animals. We grasped the concepts of what the chromosomes look like, and what they look like in each step of the processes. Having read much about mitosis and meiosis, seeing these cells was the real application of describing and understanding the stages.