Biology · Ch 7 — Cell Division
Metaphase
Metaphase
By metaphase the chromosomes have reached their maximum condensation, so that they now look very short and compact, with their sister chromatids and shared centromere clearly visible. All the chromosomes move to, and line up at, the equatorial plane of the cell — this line of chromosomes is called the metaphase plate. The mitotic spindle is now fully formed, and its fibres are attached to the centromere of every chromosome. It is also in metaphase that each chromosome's centromere splits horizontally, parallel to the long axis of the chromosome, dividing into two — so t …
What this figure shows. A cell in which every fully condensed chromosome, each showing its two sister chromatids joined at a prominent centromere, has lined up in a single row across the middle of the cell — the metaphase plate — with spindle fibres running in from both poles and attaching …