Question

A eukaryotic cell is diploid and contains 10 chromosomes ( 5 in each set). In mitosis and meiosis, how many daughter cells will be produced, and how many chromosomes will each one contain?

Short answer

After Mitosis, there will be 2 daughter cells, each containing 10 chromosomes. After Meiosis, there will be 4 daughter cells, each containing 5 chromosomes.

Step-by-step solution

Determine Result of Mitosis

In Mitosis, a single cell divides once to form two identical daughter cells. Therefore, the diploid eukaryotic cell will yield 2 daughter cells after Mitosis. Since the daughter cells are exact copies of the parent cell in Mitosis, each daughter cell will contain the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell, thus they will each contain 10 chromosomes.

Determine Result of Meiosis

In Meiosis, a single cell undergoes two rounds of cell division to form four non-identical daughter cells. Therefore, the diploid eukaryotic cell will yield 4 daughter cells after Meiosis. As each round of division in Meiosis halves the number of chromosomes, each daughter cell will contain half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. Hence, they will each contain 5 chromosomes.