Importance of Mitosis in Plants
The importance of mitosis in plants simply refers to the significance or benefits of this process in the growth and development of plants. Mitosis is a process through which chromosomes are split during cell division, to form other cells. It takes place in the eukaryotic cells. When mitosis occurs in plants, the nucleus of a cell and its chromosomes are divided into two to form two daughter cells called nuclei. Each of these two nuclei adopts the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
In fact, the process of mitosis in plants is similar to that in animals. The only difference is that in plant cells, there are no centrioles. Mitosis is a continuous process that takes place in four stages; prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. It is not easy to distinguish these phases, unless through the lens of a microscope.
For the process of mitosis to occur in plants, the cell wall and plasma membrane grow towards the inside, eventually dividing the parent cell into two. To clearly separate the two daughter cells, a cell wall grows in the middle of the nuclei. These two cells further grow to form plants of the same characteristics as those of the parent cell.
The roles and importance of Mitosis in Plants
Through the process of mitosis, cell division takes place, thereby ensuring the multiplication of cells for growth and development in plants. This means mitosis is responsible for the growth of plant leaves, roots, and stem among other parts. However, the process must be controlled to ensure uniform and healthy growth of plants.
The best way to effectively explain the importance of mitosis in plants is by describing how the process works and its outcomes.
Asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction can take place in plants in various forms including, fragmentation, budding and vegetative propagation. Through asexual reproduction, identical plants are produced from the parent plant. Since this reproduction process does not entail the formation of a gamete, the process is always faster.
Considering that mitosis enhances cell division, it is one of the factors that enhance asexual reproduction in plants, enabling them to spread out their genetic materials in a shorter duration of time as seen in plant cuttings. In fact, asexual reproduction is usually very fast. However, it should be noted that not all plants undergo asexual reproduction.
Repair of worn out or damaged cells
Based on the conditions where a plant is growing, there are various elements that may inflict damage to the cells like breaking of branches, drying of leaves, destruction of roots and stems among other parts. In the event that this occurs, the development of plant is slowed. In order to ensure that the plant does not wither out, more cells have to be reproduced by the plant and that is where mitosis comes in. The process ensures effective renewal of tissues and replacement of worn out cells.
Since the growth and development of plants generally relies on a wide range of factors including, humidity, type of soil among other conditions, there is no guarantee that mitosis can always revive the health of every plant with damaged or worn out cells.
Development of plants to maturity
The process of mitosis is continuous and takes place throughout the entire life cycle of the plant. In fact, all plants depend on it in order to fully develop into bigger and mature plants. Without the process, plants are unable to grow since they will not reproduce enough cells.
It is through mitosis that a plant is able to stay healthy because it ensures that tissues and cells which are damaged are replaced on time. Any errors that occur during the process of mitosis are always transmitted to the daughter cells, hence, affecting the resultant plant.
Considering the roles of mitosis discussed above, there is no doubt on the great importance of mitosis in plants. In fact, it is a critical process that must take place in order for plants to reproduce and grow to maturity. However, it must be noted that there are conditions that may hinder the occurrence of mitosis in plants.
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References
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1820114
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101128022919AACiU6f
http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/sci_ed/grade10/cells/cell_division.htm
http://lifeofplant.blogspot.co.ke/2011/03/mitosis-and-meiosis.html
http://www.biologyreference.com/Ma-Mo/Mitosis.html