diakinesis Cytology.
(ˌdaɪəkaɪˈniːsɪs)
[mod.L., ad. G. diakinese (V. Häcker 1897, in Biol. Centralbl. XVII. 701), f. dia-1 + Gr. κίνησις motion.]
The last stage of meiotic prophase, immediately preceding the disappearance of the nuclear membrane.
| 1902 E. B. Wilson Cell (ed. 2) 440 Diakinesis (διά, through), the segmented-spireme-stage, following the synapsis, in the primary oöcyte or spermatocyte, during which the chromosomes persist for a considerable period in the form of double rods. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 784/1 The nuclear wall is dissolved and the chromosomes separate as if repelled from one another: this process is known as ‘diakinesis’. 1939 Nature 8 July 81/1 The number of bivalents attached to the nucleolus at zygotene to diakinesis. 1970 Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. x. 326 The final stage of the first prophase of meiosis is sometimes called diakinesis (or ‘moving apart’). |