Biology · Cell Cycle and Cell Division · NEET
The correct order is Prophase, then Metaphase, then Anaphase, then Telophase. NCERT calls this the karyokinesis (nuclear division) part of the M phase. The easy memory word is PMAT. In NEET, questions often scramble this order, so learn it as one fixed chain: condense, align, separate, reform.
Prophase is the first stage. It follows the S and G2 phases of interphase. In prophase the chromosomal material condenses and the centrosome (already duplicated in S phase) starts moving to opposite poles. Metaphase is the second stage, not the first.
Use PMAT: P = Prophase, M = Metaphase, A = Anaphase, T = Telophase. Pair each with one action: Prophase = Pack (chromosomes condense), Metaphase = Middle (line up at equator), Anaphase = Away (chromatids move apart), Telophase = Two (two nuclei form). One word plus one action per stage is enough for NEET.
No. Crossing over is a meiosis event (it happens in pachytene of prophase I). If a NEET option puts crossing over inside a mitosis sequence, that option is wrong. This is a very common trap, and the 2017 NEET PYQ below uses exactly this trick.
They line up at the equator during metaphase. This line of alignment is called the metaphase plate. At this stage the chromosomes are most condensed, so their shape is easiest to study under a microscope. Alignment at the equator is a metaphase feature, not prophase or anaphase.
The centromere splits at the start of anaphase. Only after the centromere splits do the two sister chromatids become independent daughter chromosomes and move to opposite poles. So centromere splitting always comes after metaphase alignment and before telophase.
No. The four stages (Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase) are stages of karyokinesis, which is nuclear division. Cytokinesis is the separate division of the cytoplasm that usually follows telophase. So M phase = karyokinesis (4 stages) + cytokinesis, but cytokinesis is not one of the four.
Which of the following options gives the correct sequence of events during mitosis?
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase (PMAT). This is the order of karyokinesis inside the M phase, and it never changes.
Anaphase comes right after metaphase. In anaphase the centromeres split and sister chromatids move to opposite poles.
Metaphase. The chromosomes are fully condensed and lie at the equator, so their morphology is easiest to study at this stage.
Karyokinesis is the division of the nucleus, made of the four stages (PMAT). Mitosis (M phase) includes karyokinesis plus cytokinesis, the division of the cytoplasm.
Because the daughter cells get the same chromosome number as the parent cell (2n to 2n). The number does not reduce, so it is equational, unlike meiosis which halves the number.
