zygotene Cytology.
(ˈzaɪgəʊtiːn)
[a. F. zygotène (V. Grégoire 1907, in La Cellule XXIV. 371): see zygo- and -tene.]
The second stage of the prophase of meiosis, following leptotene, during which homologous chromosomes begin to pair.
| 1911 Jrnl. Morphol. XXII. 752 This view..goes on to show that after the last spermatogonial mitosis the chromosomes become very delicate slender threads, the leptotene condition..; these then approximate themselves parallel into pairs making the zygotene condition. 1939 [see diakinesis]. 1974 Nature 9 Aug. 469/2 At leptotene of meiotic prophase in many organisms, all the telomeres become gathered together and attached to a small area of the nuclear envelope, presumably so as to facilitate pairing during zygotene. |