What is Cytokinesis?
[[File:Cytokinesis illustration.svg|thumb|Cytokinesis illustration]] [[File:Unk.cilliate.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Cilliate undergoing cytokinesis, with the [[cleavage furrow]] being clearly visible.]] ''Cytokinesis'' is the division of cells after either [[mitosis]] or [[meiosis]] I and II. During cytokinesis, the ''cytoplasm'' (the liquid center of the cell that holds the ''organelles'' into place) splits into two equal halves, and the cell becomes two daughter cells. This occurs right after the beginning of [[anaphase]] (in [[mitosis]] and in [[meiosis]] I and II). Cell division continues during [[telophase]] (in mitosis and in meiosis I and II) until the cell has completely divided. [[mitosis]] and [[meiosis]] II starts again after cytokinesis. A new and complete nucleus has been formed in each of the two cells.<ref>Eggert U.S., Mitchison T.J. & Field C.M. Animal cytokinesis: from parts list to mechanism by 2006. ''Annual Review of Cell Biology'' '''75''', 543-66.</ref> == Cytokinesis in plants == [[File:Telophase.svg|250px|thumb|Animal cell [[telophase]] and cytokinesis]] In plants cytokinesis is slightly different. As plant cells cannot move apart because of their cell wall, a cell plate begins to form during late [[anaphase]] and throughout [[telophase]]. When the cytoplasm and organelles are divided evenly between the two new cells, the plate then becomes less flimsy and soon becomes another cell wall separating the daughter cells. Cytokinesis splits the cell wall, unlike animal cells, where it splits the cytoplasm. The cell wall grows later as the two new cells expand.<ref>The dividing cell: cytokinesis [https://web.archive.org/web/20100622024242/http://www.illuminatedcell.com/celldiv.html]</ref> == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Cell biology]]