Final answer:
Chromatin is compacted into a highly condensed state during mitosis, facilitating the accurate segregation of chromosomes to daughter cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
Chromatin must be compacted into a more highly condensed state during the event of mitosis. During interphase, chromatin can exist in both condensed and less condensed forms, known as heterochromatin and euchromatin respectively, related to gene activity. However, before a cell divides through the process of mitosis, its DNA has to be well-organized and condensed to ensure accurate segregation of chromosomes to the daughter cells.
During mitosis, several key events occur:
- The chromatin condenses into visible chromosomes during prophase.
- Cohesin proteins hold the sister chromatids together.
- The spindle apparatus attaches to chromosomes to ensure they are distributed equally to the daughter cells during anaphase.
- After mitosis, cytokinesis occurs, dividing the cytoplasm and completing the formation of two separate cells.
The levels of chromatin organization progress from DNA wrapped around histones forming nucleosomes, to nucleosomes coiling into a 30 nm fiber, to the higher-order packing that forms the metaphase chromosomes visible during mitosis.