a method of indirect division of a cell, consisting of a complex of various processes, by means of which the two daughter nuclei normally receive identical complements of the number of chromosomes characteristic of the somatic cells of the species. Mitosis, the process by which the body grows and replaces cells, is divided into four phases. 1. Prophase : formation of paired chromosomes; disappearance of nuclear membrane; appearance of the achromatic spindle; formation of polar bodies. 2. Metaphase : arrangement of chromosomes in the equatorial plane of the central spindle to form the monaster. Chromosomes separate into exactly similar halves. 3. Anaphase : the two groups of daughter chromosomes separate and move along the fibres of the central spindle, each toward one of the asters, forming the diaster. 4. Telophase : the daughter chromosomes resolve themselves into a reticulum and the daughter nuclei are formed; the cytoplasm divides, forming two complete daughter cells. NOTE : the term mitosis is used interchangeably with cell division, but strictly speaking it refers to nuclear division, whereas cytokinesis refers to division of the cytoplasm. In some cells, as in many fungi and the fertilized eggs of many insects, nuclear division occurs within the cell unaccompanied by division of the cytoplasm and formation of daughter cells.