anaphase /an″əfāz/ [Gk, ana + phainein, to appear] , the third of four stages of division of the nucleus in mitosis and in each of the two divisions of meiosis. In anaphase of mitosis and of the second meiotic division, the centromeres divide, and the two chromatids, which are arranged along the equatorial plane of the spindle, separate and move to the opposite poles of the cell, forming daughter chromosomes. In anaphase of the first meiotic division, the pairs of homologous chromosomes separate from each other and move intact to the opposite poles of the cell. See also cytokinesis, interphase, meiosis, metaphase, mitosis, prophase, telophase.
