Mitosis vs Binary Fission

All living things are composed of a tiny building block called a cell. A cell is the smallest, functional unit in any organism either a single-celled or multicellular organism. There are two types of cell division: sexual cell division and the asexual cell division. Sexual division happens when two gametes like the sperm and the egg fuse together. On the other hand, asexual production does not involve gametes. In addition, there are two types of asexual production: mitosis and binary fission. Although they are similar in a way that they reproduce in an asexual fashion, they are very different in many aspects.

There are two types of cells: the eukaryote cells that contain a nucleus and prokaryote cells that don’t have a nucleus. Cells that are eukaryote in nature divide through the process of mitosis. Mitosis usually happens during embryogenesis and blastogenesis. Both life processes increase the number of cells which is comparable to the growth of the organism. However, binary fission or prokaryotic fission involves prokaryotic cells wherein the growth of the daughter cell is much like that of the parent cell. In other words, mitosis divides the cell into two daughter nuclei while binary fission divides the cell to form two duplicate cells.

Mitosis commonly occurs in somatic cells of multicellular organisms. However, binary fission mostly involves unicellular forms of life. Binary fission consists of three main kinds: transverse, simple, and longitudinal binary fission. Simple binary fission is a division wherein it goes by any plane such as in amoebas. Transverse binary fission is the matching of the cytoplasmic division plane with the transverse axis of the specimen like in planaria and paramecium. Longitudinal binary fission is the matching of the plane and longitudinal alignment such as in euglena.

Cells follow a process during cell division. For mitosis, cells undergo a series of stages in order for them to divide into daughter nuclei. Mitosis is comprised of four stages: G1, S, G2, and a stage that completes the mitotic cycle. Interphase is termed for the first to third stages. During this longest stage, there is no evident chromosomal activity or division but is characterized by fast, cellular metabolism. G1 involves synthesis of protein and transcription of RNA. The S phase is marked by synthesis of DNA. The G2 phase is done through energy attainment and cell growth. Conversely, binary fission is said to be a simple process of cell division. Thus, it is considered much faster than mitosis.

During mitosis, a lot of changes happen to the organelles of the cell. In binary fission, there is no involvement of the mitotic apparatus like the centrioles, mitotic spindle, centromeres, and kinetochores. In binary fission, sister chromatids are no longer involved in chromosomal replication. Still, there must be a separation between the replicated chromosomes. Opposite to the mitotic spindle, the separation of chromosomal replication is done through the cell membrane. Additionally, mitosis copies the chromosomes while binary fission only copies the DNA.

The whole idea of cell division which involves either mitosis or binary fission is a very particular matter. Moreover, it deals with specific happenings or events that turns out to be an incredibly essential part in order for the entire cycle to take place as life dictates it to be.

Summary:

1.Mitosis is on eukaryotes while binary fission is on prokaryotes.

2.Binary fission has different kinds.

3.Mitosis has stages of cell division.

4.Binary fission is faster than mitosis.

5.Binary fission does not involve the mitotic apparatus and sister chromatids unlike in mitosis.

6.Mitosis copies the chromosomes while binary fission only copies the DNA.

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