Amitosis is formed from the Greek words a meaning not, mito meaning thread and osis meaning state. The process in which a cell directly produces two daughter cells without any complex medium is called amitosis. Walter Flemming first used the term amitosis in 1882. In 1955 scientist Remak first observed amitosis cell division in red blood cells of chick embryos. Amitosis occurs in cells such as bacteria, yeast, amoeba, nostoc, cartilage of vertebrates, embryo membrane, endosperm of seeds etc.
Process of Amitosis cell division
At the beginning of amitosis, cells take in food and grow in size. Its nucleus is also enlarged. The nucleus enlarges and takes the shape of a dumbbell. The cytoplasm of the cell folds inwards. The nucleus then divides into two fragments. The cytoplasm folds further inward. Later the cytoplasm changes into two cells with nucleus
Significance of Amitosis
1. Amitosis is simple cell division process.
2. This process gave rise to complex and advanced cell division.
3. It increases the number of cells rapidly.
4. Lower organisms multiply in this manner.
5. It is very effective in the rapid growth of unicellular organisms.