Key differences between Mitosis and Meiosis
Number of cell divisions
Mitosis: 1 Meiosis: 2
Role in organism life cycle
Mitosis: Asexual reproduction in some eukaryotes; cell division for growth Meiosis: Halving chromosome number in cells that will produce gametes
Makeup of chromosomes in daughter cells
Mitosis: identical Meiosis: Different--various combinations of maternal and paternal chromosomes, paternal and maternal segments mixed within chromosome
Synapsis of homologs
Mitosis: no Meiosis: yes
Number of crossing-over events
Mitosis: none Meiosis: one or more per pair of homologous chromosomes
Number of chromosomes in daughter cells compared with parent cell
Mitosis: same Meiosis: half