Human karyotype with bands and sub-bands

A sister chromatid refers to the identical copies (

chromatid A chromatid (Greek ''khrōmat-'' 'color' + ''-id'') is one half of a duplicated chromosome. Before replication, one chromosome is composed of one DNA molecule. In replication, the DNA molecule is copied, and the two molecules are known as chro ...

s) formed by the

DNA replication In molecular biology, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. DNA replication occurs in all living organisms acting as the most essential part for biological inheritanc ...

of a

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

, with both copies joined together by a common

centromere The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers ...

. In other words, a sister chromatid may also be said to be 'one-half' of the duplicated chromosome. A pair of sister chromatids is called a dyad. A full set of sister chromatids is created during the synthesis ( S) phase of

interphase Interphase is the portion of the cell cycle that is not accompanied by visible changes under the microscope, and includes the G1, S and G2 phases. During interphase, the cell grows (G1), replicates its DNA (S) and prepares for mitosis (G2). A c ...

, when all the chromosomes in a cell are replicated. The two sister chromatids are separated from each other into two different cells during

mitosis In cell biology, mitosis () is a part of the cell cycle in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Cell division by mitosis gives rise to genetically identical cells in which the total number of chromosomes is mainta ...

or during the second division of

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately resu ...

. Compare sister chromatids to

homologous chromosome A couple of homologous chromosomes, or homologs, are a set of one maternal and one paternal chromosome that pair up with each other inside a cell during fertilization. Homologs have the same genes in the same loci where they provide points alon ...

s, which are the two ''different'' copies of a chromosome that

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

organisms (like humans) inherit, one from each parent. Sister chromatids are by and large identical (since they carry the same alleles, also called variants or versions, of genes) because they derive from one original chromosome. An exception is towards the end of meiosis, after crossing over has occurred, because sections of each sister chromatid may have been exchanged with corresponding sections of the homologous chromatids with which they are paired during meiosis. Homologous chromosomes might or might not be the same as each other because they derive from different parents. There is evidence that, in some species, sister chromatids are the preferred template for DNA repair. Sister chromatid cohesion is essential for the correct distribution of genetic information between daughter cells and the repair of damaged chromosomes. Defects in this process may lead to aneuploidy and cancer, especially when checkpoints fail to detect DNA damage or when incorrectly attached mitotic spindles don't function properly.

Mitosis

Mitotic recombination is primarily a result of DNA repair processes responding to spontaneous or induced damages.Bernstein C, Bernstein H. (1991) Aging, Sex, and DNA Repair. Academic Press, San Diego pp220-221. partly available at https://books.google.com/books?id=BaXYYUXy71cC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Aging,+Sex,+and+DNA+Repair&source=bl&ots=9E6VrRl7fJ&sig=kqUROJfBM6EZZeIrkuEFygsVVpo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z8BqUpi7D4KQiALC54Ew&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Aging%2C%20Sex%2C%20and%20DNA%20Repair&f=false Homologous recombinational repair during mitosis is largely limited to interaction between nearby sister chromatids that are present in a cell subsequent to DNA replication but prior to cell division. Due to the special nearby relationship they share, sister chromatids are not only preferred over distant homologous chromatids as substrates for recominational repair, but have the capacity to repair more DNA damage than do homologs.

Meiosis

Studies with the budding yeast ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' indicate that inter-sister recombination occurs frequently during meiosis, and up to one-third of all recombination events occur between sister chromatids.

References

{{Reflist Cytogenetics

Mitosis

Meiosis

See also

References