The drug colchicine inhibits the formation of spindle fibers during mitosis. If you treat dividing plant cells with colchicine,
what would you expect the result to be? A. The chromosomes are halved during cell division and the result is a cell that has half the number of chromosomes than it would normally have. B. The chromosomes do not pull apart in an orderly fashion during cell division and the result is two cells with unequal numbers of chromosomes. C. The chromosomes are separated during prophase and each of the four daughter cells receives a haploid number of chromosomes. D. The chromosomes do not pull apart during cell division and the result is a cell that has double the number of chromosomes than it would normally have.
During metaphase of cell division, the chromosomes line up in the metaphase plate and the spindle fibers from the poles extend and attach to the centromeres of the chromosomes. The spindle then contracts and pull different chromosomes to the opposite poles of the cell before the parent cell divides. If spindle fibers do not form, then the chromosomes will not separate during anaphase.
Therefore, the final cell after mitosis will be a cell with double the number of chromosomes -because if you remember, during interphase, genetic material is replicated so each daughter cell can have its copy-. Due to quality control in the process of cell divisison, this cell will mostly undergo apoptosis, otherwise, it could develop into cancer.
