RP5

• Meristems


  Areas in plant cells where mitosis occurs at shoot and root tips
• Totipotent


  Cells in meristems retain the ability to differentiate
• Mitotic index


  Ratio of cells undergoing mitosis to total number of cells in a sample
• Prepare and stain a root tip squash to observe the stages of mitosis

  1. Cut 5mm root tip sample

  2. Transfer to HCl for 5 mins

  3. Transfer to cold distilled water for 5 mins

  4. Dry root tips

  5. Macerate root tip on slide

  6. Add toluidine blue stain for 2 mins

  7. Lower coverslip carefully

  8. Squash slide

  9. Observe under microscope

  10. Count cells undergoing mitosis and total cells to calculate mitotic index
• Cells undergoing mitosis have visible chromosomes