Question

Colchicine is a chemical that when applied to a cell during mitosis can be used to ""freeze"" cells in metaphase by preventing the chromosomes from moving away from the metaphase plate. What part of the cell does colchicine most likely affect?

Answer 1

Answer:

Colchicine inhibits the formation of the microtubules or spindle fibers. Without the spindle fibers the chromosomes cannot move to the poles.

Explanation:

Spindles and microtubules are both important components of cellular division. The structures go hand in hand with each other and are necessary for cellular division to occur.

Spindle fibers form a protein structure that divides the genetic material in a cell. The spindle is necessary to equally divide the chromosomes in a parental cell into two daughter cells during mitosis and meiosis. During mitosis, the spindle fibers are called the mitotic spindle and it is called meiotic spindle during meiosis,