Key Concepts: Stages of Mitosis
PROPHASE
- Nuclear membrane disintegrates
- Strands of chromosomes condense and become visible
- Nucleolus disappears
- Centrioles begin to move to opposite sides
METAPHASE
- Chromosomes line up along the metaphase plate
- Centrioles are at opposite ends of the cell
- Spindle fibers run from centrioles to kinetochores
ANAPHASE
- Sister chromatids of each chromosome separate at the centromere
- Begins to pull apart
- Shortest phase
TELOPHASE
- Chromosomes cluster at end of cell
- Nuclear membrane reforms
- Chromosomes unravel and become invisible
