Is the cell cycle applicable to meiosis as well, or just mitosis? All the diagrams I can find, show the cell cycle as having G1 phase (growth 1), S phase (DNA replication), G2 (growth 2) before the Mitotic phase (mitosis + cytokinesis). Is there an equivalent "cell cycle" for meiosis, since the chromosomes in parent cell in meiosis also having "double" the genetic material prior to cell division (presumably from DNA replication too)? Is it simply the same cell cycle as mitosis but with a **Meiotic** phase instead of Mitotic? If so, would appreciate if anyone had a diagram :) Thanks!

The cell cycle is only associated with mitosis). The cell cycle is the normal process of cell division with which cells can indefinitely increase their number by cyclically repeating the process. When a cell goes through the cycle, the result is two cells that are genetically identical.

Meiosis is a special type of cell division (which can occur only in eukaryotes) that produces cells that are not genetically identical to the initiating cell. The number of chromosomes in each of the resulting cells is half the number that were in the initial cell. (These _haploid_ cells can later participate in fertilization, producing a cell with the original number of chromosomes.) Many of the steps of meiosis are similar to the steps involved in mitosis, but overall the process is more complex. Since meiosis reduces the number of chromosomes, it cannot be repeated and so does not take part in a cell division cycle.