ONION ROOT TIP

Group 6
Reyes | Trinanes | Verzosa | Santillan
Serapion | Simeon | Warde
Table of Contents
01 02
Conclusion Pictures
Questions

03 04
Table Stages of Mitosis
(Drawing)
 01
Conclusion Questions
1. The cells in the root of an onion are actively dividing. How
might the numbers of cells found in this region differ from a
different part of the plant?

The region behind the root cap of an onion is the

mitotic region, which is a site for rapid growth and
thus this explains why the onion’s root tip is the
fastest developing part of the plant.
2. What stage were the majority of the cells in the
water treated root tips?

Based on the cells’ appearance from the

micrographs, majority of the cells are in
the interphase stage.
3. How long does a cell spend in each stage of the cell cycle? Why
does the cell spend so much of its time in a particular stage?

Commonly, cells remain in G1 phase for about 10 hours, between

5-6 hours in S phase, and last for 3-4 hours in the G2 phase. As a
sum, interphase takes 18-20 hours to complete. On the other
hand, mitosis only takes about 2 hours. Additionally, the cell
spends time the most in Interphase, this is due to the fact that the
cell requires a long time to grow, replicate its DNA, and prepare
for cell division in the later stages.
4. What happens when cell division is interrupted?

What occurs is the stage called metaphase, in which

the chromosomes travel to the middle of the cell and
align in a region called the metaphase plate.
5. What process must take place before mitosis can
begin?

What should happen is the interphase process,

in which the contents of the cell are doubled.
Before the cells can divide, either by mitosis or
meiosis, they have to go through the interphase.
6. Why is mitosis important? Where does mitosis take
place?

Mitosis is important in the formation of new cells and

maintaining the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a
cell. Also, mitosis’ purposes are cell regeneration, and
replacement, growth, and asexual reproduction. Mitosis takes
place within the nucleus of the cell. In the body, the mitosis takes
place in the cells of the skin and bone marrow which are sites of
active mitosis, replacing skin cells and red blood cells that only
have a limited life. In plants, the mitosis takes place in growing
regions called the meristems.
7. Give an example of cells in your body that divide
slowly or do not divide at all.

Heart cells and nerve cells divide slowly and

rarely. The same goes for adult liver cells, one of
the most sensitive cells in our body, only divides
once a year.
8. What is cancer? How does cancer affect the rate of
mitosis?

Cancer is characterized by the development of

abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and have the
ability to destroy normal body tissue, and begins in the
DNA synthesis phase. Cancer affects the rate of mitosis
by ignoring the normal checkpoints regulating mitosis.
9. How would a slide of cancerous cells look different
from this one?

In comparison to normal cells, cancer cells have

uncontrollable cell growth resulting in the formation of
tumors. Cancer cells do not stop dividing and they have more
genetic changes than normal cells. A slide of cancerous cells
would display abnormally large and dark nuclei compared to
that of normal “healthy” cell nuclei.
10. What type of cells in your body do not divide by
mitosis?

Sperm cells and egg cells do not

divide by mitosis.
02

Pictures
03
Table
 Interphase Prophase Metaphase Anaphase Telophase Total

Predicted
time in 23 hrs 0.45 hrs 0.12 hrs 0.35 hrs 0.08 hrs 24 hrs
phase

Number of 7 2 6 2 62
cells (Data) 45

Percent of
cells 72.58% 11.29% 3.32% 9.68% 3.32% 100%
(Results)

Actual
calculated 17.42 hrs 2.71 hrs 0.8 hrs 2.32 hrs 0.8 hrs 24.05 hrs
time
04
Stages of Mitosis
(Drawing)
Prophase
• Chromosomes condense and
become visible

• Spindle fibers emerge from the

centrosomes

• Nuclear envelope breaks down

• Centrosomes move toward

opposite poles

• Nucleolus disappears
Metaphase
• Mitotic spindle is fully
developed, centrosomes are at
opposite poles of the cell

• Chromosomes are lined up at the

metaphase plate

• Each sister chromatid is attached to

a spindle fiber originating from
opposite poles
Anaphase
• Cohesin proteins binding the
sister chromatids together break
down

• Sister chromatids (now called

chromosomes) are pulled toward
opposite poles

• Non-kinetochore spindle fibers

lengthen, elongating the cell
Telophase
• Chromosomes arrive at opposite
poles and begin to decondense

• Nuclear envelope material

surrounds each set of
chromosomes

• The mitotic spindle breaks down