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A sister chromatid refers to the identical copies (
chromatid A chromatid (Greek ''khrōmat-'' 'color' + ''-id'') is one half of a duplicated chromosome. Before replication, one chromosome is composed of one DNA molecule. In replication, the DNA molecule is copied, and the two molecules are known as chr ...
s) formed by the
DNA replication In molecular biology, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. DNA replication occurs in all living organisms acting as the most essential part for biological inheritan ...
of a
chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...
, with both copies joined together by a common
centromere The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers ...
. In other words, a sister chromatid may also be said to be 'one-half' of the duplicated chromosome. A pair of sister chromatids is called a dyad. A full set of sister chromatids is created during the synthesis ( S) phase of interphase, when all the chromosomes in a cell are replicated. The two sister chromatids are separated from each other into two different cells during mitosis or during the second division of
meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately ...
. Compare sister chromatids to homologous chromosomes, which are the two ''different'' copies of a chromosome that diploid organisms (like humans) inherit, one from each parent. Sister chromatids are by and large identical (since they carry the same alleles, also called variants or versions, of genes) because they derive from one original chromosome. An exception is towards the end of meiosis, after crossing over has occurred, because sections of each sister chromatid may have been exchanged with corresponding sections of the homologous chromatids with which they are paired during meiosis. Homologous chromosomes might or might not be the same as each other because they derive from different parents. There is evidence that, in some species, sister chromatids are the preferred template for DNA repair. Sister chromatid cohesion is essential for the correct distribution of genetic information between daughter cells and the repair of damaged chromosomes. Defects in this process may lead to aneuploidy and cancer, especially when checkpoints fail to detect DNA damage or when incorrectly attached mitotic spindles don't function properly.


Mitosis

Mitotic recombination is primarily a result of DNA repair processes responding to spontaneous or induced damages.Bernstein C, Bernstein H. (1991) Aging, Sex, and DNA Repair. Academic Press, San Diego pp220-221. partly available at https://books.google.com/books?id=BaXYYUXy71cC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Aging,+Sex,+and+DNA+Repair&source=bl&ots=9E6VrRl7fJ&sig=kqUROJfBM6EZZeIrkuEFygsVVpo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z8BqUpi7D4KQiALC54Ew&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Aging%2C%20Sex%2C%20and%20DNA%20Repair&f=false Homologous recombinational repair during mitosis is largely limited to interaction between nearby sister chromatids that are present in a cell subsequent to DNA replication but prior to cell division. Due to the special nearby relationship they share, sister chromatids are not only preferred over distant homologous chromatids as substrates for recominational repair, but have the capacity to repair more DNA damage than do homologs.


Meiosis

Studies with the budding yeast ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' indicate that inter-sister recombination occurs frequently during meiosis, and up to one-third of all recombination events occur between sister chromatids.


See also

*
Biorientation Biorientation is the phenomenon whereby microtubules emanating from different microtubule organizing centres (MTOCs) attach to kinetochores of sister chromatids. This results in the sister chromatids moving to opposite poles of the cell during cell ...
* Sister chromatid exchange


References

{{Reflist Cytogenetics