Question

Mitosis and meiosis are processes by which animal and plant cells divide. Which statement BEST describes a difference between mitosis and meiosis?
A.Meiosis is a multi-step process.

B. Meiosis also takes place in prokaryotic cells.

C. Mitosis produces genetically identical daughter cells.

Answer 1

C.mitosis produces genetically identical daughter cells.

Answer 2

Answer:

C. Mitosis produces genetically identical daughter cells.

Explanation:

As stated in the question, Mitosis and Meiosis are both cellular divisions that occurs in living cells. However, they differ in their products and process. Mitosis is the type of cell division that produces two daughter cells that are genetically identical to the parent cell. They are identical in the sense that they possess the same number of chromosomes and types of alleles as the parent cell.

However, meiosis is the kind of division that produces four daughter cells with each having their chromosomal number reduced by half. Meiosis is only employed by sexually reproducing organisms to produce gametes. It involves a two step division process. The daughter cells that results from meiosis are genetically different from the parent cell because they contain different allele combination and reduced number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

This difference in genetic content of the daughter cells produced by meiosis is as a result of CROSSING-OVER process that occurs between non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes, where chromosome parts containing alleles are exchanged between the two chromosomes. This increases the chance of genetic diversity among the species of that organism.