Difference Between Anaphase and Telophase

The key difference between anaphase and telophase is that during anaphase, the sister chromatids separate from each other and migrate towards opposite ends of the cell while during telophase, nuclear membranes reform and nucleoli reappear.

Eukaryotes possess a relatively large and more complex genome compared to prokaryotes. Therefore, the presence of well-organized cell cycle is a crucial factor to produce new daughter cells. The cell cycle can be divided into five phases as G1, S, G2, mitosis, and cytokinesis. G1 phase is the longest phase and is the primary growth phase of the cell. S phase, on the other hand, is the phase in which cell synthesis a replica of genome G2 phase is the second growth phase while mitosis is the phase in which nuclear division takes place and produce two identical daughter nuclei. Moreover, cytokinesis is the division of cytoplasm and the creation of new separate daughter cells. Mitosis consists of several sub-phases as prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. The separation of sister chromatids and formation of daughter nuclei take place during anaphase and telophase respectively.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Anaphase
3. What is Telophase
4. Similarities Between Anaphase and Telophase
5. Side by Side Comparison – Anaphase vs Telophase in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Anaphase?

Anaphase is the shortest of all the stages of mitosis. Up to this point, cohesion proteins hold the sister chromatids at the centromere. At the beginning of anaphase, centromeres split, and two sister chromatids start to separate from each other by removing the cohesion proteins simultaneously from all chromosomes. Then microtubules pull each sister chromosomes rapidly toward the opposite poles of the cell. There are two movements – ‘Anaphase A and Anaphase B’ – during anaphase.

Kinetochores are pulled toward the poles during ‘Anaphase A’ while the poles move apart resulting elongated cells during ‘Anaphase B’. These two movements take place simultaneously with the help of microtubules.

What is Telophase?

Telophase is the final stage of mitosis during which the reformation of daughter nuclei takes place. In telophase, the spindle apparatus dissembles and chromosomes are no longer attached to microtubules at the centromere. The chromosomes now begin to uncoil into a more extended form that permits gene expression. Nuclear membranes reform and nucleoli reappear during telophase.

Moreover, telophase is the reversal of the process of prophase, bringing the cell back to the interphase.

What are the Similarities Between Anaphase and Telophase?

• Anaphase and telophase are two phases of mitosis and meiosis.
• Anaphase is followed by telophase.

What is the Difference Between Anaphase and Telophase?

Anaphase occurs after metaphase while telophase occurs after anaphase. The key difference between anaphase and telophase is that the sister chromatids separate from each other and move towards the two poles of the cell during the anaphase while re-formation of daughter nuclei takes place during the telophase. Furthermore, a significant difference between anaphase and telophase is the duration. The duration of anaphase is shorter than that of telophase.

At the beginning of anaphase, there is only one group of sister chromatids arranged in the middle line of the cell. In contrast, at the beginning of telophase, there are two groups of sister chromatids at the poles of the cell. Thus, this is also a difference between anaphase and telophase. Moreover, a further difference between anaphase and telophase is that a spindle apparatus is present at anaphase, whereas it disappears at telophase.

Summary – Anaphase vs Telophase

Anaphase and telophase are two phases of mitosis which describes the nuclear division. Anaphase occurs after metaphase while telophase occurs after anaphase. During the anaphase, sister chromatids separate from each other while during the telophase, nuclear membranes reform and nucleoli reappear. Moreover, anaphase extends for a short time period than telophase. Thus, this summarizes the difference between anaphase and telophase.

Reference:

1. “Phases of Mitosis.” Khan Academy, Available here.
2. Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Anaphase” By Roy van Heesbeen – Delta Vision Roy van Heesbeen (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Telophase” By Kelvinsong – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia