Describe5 marksChallenge
A technician prepared a slide of a root tip from an actively growing onion (Allium cepa). Under a light microscope, one cell showed the following features:
- Chromosomes were highly condensed and each appeared as two sister chromatids joined at the centromere.
- The chromosomes were aligned in a single row along the equatorial plane of the cell.
- Spindle fibers extended from opposite poles and were attached to the centromeres of the chromosomes.
- No nuclear envelope was visible.
Describe the stage of mitosis this cell is in and explain how the cell reached this stage, including the key events that occurred in the immediately preceding stage.