Types of Cell Division

Not every cell divides in the same way. In animal cells three distinct kinds of cell division are recognised: amitosis (direct division), mitosis (indirect, equational division) and meiosis (reductional division). These are not equally available to every cell — mitosis can be carried out by both haploid and diploid cells, but meiosis can only be carried out by a diploid cell. Two examples make this distinction concrete: in the honey bee, unfertilised (haploid) eggs develop into drones by mitosis, while in the plant Marchantia, haploid spores likewise multiply into the gametophyte …