The Cell Cycle

Eukaryotic cell cycle

Interphase: G1 phase, G0 phase, S phase, G2 phase
Mitosis: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase
Cytokinesis
Amoeba Sisters video

https://youtu.be/f-ldPgEfAHI
 Eukaryotic cell cycle

 Cell cycle begins with a single cell – this then grows and divides into two daughter cells
through replication and division
 The cell cycle has 3 main phases:
1. Interphase
2. Mitosis
3. Cytokinesis
 Must always follow this sequence
 The ‘cell cycle’ is the period between one cytokinesis and the next
 In actively growing cells, interphase takes up the longest portion of the cell cycle (approx.
90%), and mitosis and cytokinesis form a relatively short part of the cycle (approx. 10%)
 Interphase

 First stage of cell cycle

 Divided into 3 main phases:
1. G1 (pre-DNA synthesis)
2. S (DNA synthesis)
3. G2 (post-DNA synthesis)
 Can also be G0, a resting phase – cells enter this phase at start of G1 and simply carry
out the functions of the cell, not changing internal structures or growing; enter back into
cell cycle at G1 prior to dividing.
 Some specialised cells such as red blood cells and nerve cells never re-enter the cell cycle,
and remain instead in G0 phase and never replicate
 Length of cell cycle

 The duration of the cell cycle varies from organism to organism and from cell to cell
 Certain fly embryos have cell cycles that last only 8 minutes per cycle!
 Some mammals take much longer than that - up to a year in certain liver cells
 Generally for fast-dividing mammalian cells, the length of the cycle is approximately 24 hours
 G1 about 10 hours of the 24 total hours of the cell cycle
 S phase between 5 and 6 hours
 G2 between 3 to 4 hours in most cells
 In sum, then, interphase generally takes between 18 and 20 hours
 Mitosis, during which the cell completes cell division only takes about 2 hours
 G1 phase
G1 phase:
 Smallish daughter cell (resulted from a previous
division)
 Undergoes metabolic processes such as protein
synthesis, and organelles and membrane synthesis,
and almost doubles in size
 G1 is typically the longest phase of the cell cycle
 Cells usually remain in G1 for about 10 hours of the 24
total hours of the cell cycle (in mammals anyway!)
 Some cells will enter G0 phase from here (eg.
Specialised cells)
 G1 phase cont…

G1 checkpoint (aka restriction point):

1. Adequate resources for cell division to
proceed? Enough nucleotides and energy?
2. Is cell large enough to divide?
3. Is the DNA in the nucleus free from damage?
 If the cell passes the above it is committed to
the cell division process
 If not, it may go into resting phase (G0)
temporarily (until things improve) or
permanently
 S phase
S phase:
 Chromosomes are replicated in the
nucleus
 Each chromosome makes an exact replica
of itself
 Sister chromatids are joined at the
centromere
 As a result, the amount of DNA in the cell
doubles (but the ploidy number remains the
same!)
 S phase

 During the S phase, DNA is synthesised

 DNA replication is semi-conservative: each daughter DNA molecule consists of one old
and one newly synthesised strand
 There are 3 phases in replication:
1. Parent DNA molecule starts to ‘unzip’ at one end
2. Complementary bases are attached to the both strands of the unwound DNA, according to
complementary base-pairing rules (A-T; G-C)
3. The two daughter strands re-form: each has an old and a newly replicated strand and both
are identical to each other and to the parent DNA molecule
 G2 phase
G2 phase:
 Secondary stage of growth and metabolic processes;
energy acquisition
 Materials required for mitosis are synthesised
 G2 checkpoint:
 Has DNA been synthesised correctly? No
replication mistakes or DNA damage?
 Adequate resources for mitosis? Proteins?
Energy?
 Adequate cell size?
 If passes all these, then can pass into the mitotic
phase; If not: attempts repair
 If cannot repair, cell will undergo apoptosis
(programmed cell death)
Interphase summary
G1 / Gap 1
• Cell growth, increasing cytosol
• Synthesis of proteins needed for DNA
replication
• Mitochondria (& Chloroplasts) divide

S / Synthesis
• Synthesis / Replication of DNA

G2 / Gap 2
• Further growth
• Synthesis of proteins for microtubules
• Cell has doubled in size by the end of
this phase
 M phase: Mitosis
 Mitosis is the division of the nucleus
 4 sub-phases but is a continuous process: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase
 Can tell the sub-phases of mitosis apart from the appearance of the chromosomes and
their position in the cell
 Prophase: first time that the chromosomes become visible as a result of condensing
(shortening and thickening)
 Metaphase: the chromosomes line up down the middle of the cell (the ‘equator’; spindle
fibres attach to chromosome centromeres
 Anaphase: the sister chromatids are ‘dragged’ apart to the poles of the cell
 Telophase: the nuclear envelope reforms around each of the newly formed bunches of
chromosomes; the chromatin de-condenses
 Cytokinesis occurs after telophase; the cytoplasm is divided and the cell membrane
pinches in to form 2 new cell membranes; in plants, a new cell wall forms to separate
the cells
 Plant cell images: Which phase is which?
Prophase Metaphase Anaphase

Chromatin

Anaphase Telophase
Mitosis
 M phase

M phase:
 Mitosis phase also has a checkpoint
 M checkpoint (aka spindle checkpoint):
 Towards end of metaphase
 Have all spindle fibres have attached correctly to the sister
chromatids?
 Are all chromosomes correctly aligned along the
midline/equator of cell?
 If so, will proceed to anaphase
 If not, will wait until the spindle has captured any stray
chromosomes!
 Cytokinesis
 Cytoplasm divides and new nuclei separate
 Animal cells:
 plasma membrane moves inwards, pinching
the 2 daughter cells apart – ‘cleavage
furrow’
 Plant and fungal cells:
 A cell plate forms across the centre of the cell
 Carbohydrate rich vesicles are deposited
during telophase
 The vesicles fuse together and form a cell
plate
 Cell plate extends outwards and eventually
separates the two daughter cells during
cytokinesis
----PROPHASE-------n
Resource for checkpoints and more info:
 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/cellular-molecular-biology/stem-cells-and-c
ancer/a/cell-cycle-checkpoints-article

Another video on the cell cycle that goes back to basics:

 https://youtu.be/gTZ_vj-HdzM