I had to observe slides of onion root tip to study plant mitosis. And the question I have to answer asks,if your observations had not been restricted to the area of the root tip that is actively dividing, how would your results have been different?

Question

I had to observe slides of onion root tip to study plant mitosis. And the question I have to answer asks,if your observations had not been restricted to the area of the root tip that is actively dividing, how would your results have been different?

I believe majority of cells would have stayed in interphase, but I am not too sure. Please help me out!

Answer 1

Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "'onion root tip' mitosis" to get these possible sources:

http://www.biology.arizona.edu/Cell_BIO/activities/cell_cycle/cell_cycle.html
http://biog-101-104.bio.cornell.edu/biog101_104/tutorials/cell_division/onion_review_fs.html
http://staff.jccc.net/pdecell/celldivision/oniontip.html
http://biology.northwestcollege.edu/biology/b1010lab/mitonion.htm

From what little I have read, I would tend to agree with you. In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

Answer 2

Thank you very much for your help!

Answer 3

To answer the question, it is important to understand the process of mitosis in onion root tips. Mitosis is the division of cells into identical daughter cells, and it occurs in several stages: interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

In onion root tips, the actively dividing cells are found in the region called the "meristematic zone." This is the area where cell division takes place, and it is usually located at the tip of the root. During interphase, the cells are preparing for division by growing and duplicating their DNA.

Now, if your observations had not been restricted to the actively dividing area and extended beyond the meristematic zone, your results would have been different. Here's how:

1. More cells in interphase: In onion root tips, not all cells are actively dividing at the same time. By expanding your observations to include non-dividing cells, you would have likely observed a higher number of cells in interphase. These cells are not actively dividing, but they are in the preparation phase for cell division (DNA replication) and carry out their regular cellular activities.

2. Fewer cells in the other stages of mitosis: Since mitosis is a tightly regulated process, only a small fraction of cells are dividing at any given time in the root tip. If you included non-dividing cells in your observations, the numbers of cells in the prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase would likely be lower compared to the actively dividing region. This is because these stages of mitosis are relatively short, as compared to the much more prolonged interphase.

So, in summary, if you had observed cells beyond the actively dividing area in the onion root tip, your results would show a higher proportion of cells in interphase and a lower proportion in the other stages of mitosis. This would provide a more comprehensive view of the cell cycle in the root tip, including the cells preparing for division and those that have completed division.