It is type of cell division by which a diploid mother cell produces haploid daughter cell.
It is termed as reduction division because the number of chromosomes are reduced to half in daughter cell.
Meiosis occurs only in sex cells to produce gametes.
Significance of meiosis lie in the fact that it reduces the number of chromosome into half and thus helps to maintain the chromosomal number of the species in the zygote after fertilisation .
Meiosis has two steps : Meiosis I and Meiosis II. There is a time gap between two steps, called interkinesis.
Meiosis I involves replication , crossing over etc.
Meiosis II is similar to mitosis however, no DNA replication occurs prior to meiosis II and the DNA content is thus halved in Daughter cell.
