Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Colchicine is an alkaloid chemical agent widely used in plant breeding and genetics to induce polyploidy by disrupting the normal mechanics of spindle fiber assembly during cell division.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- During normal cell division (mitosis), spindle fibers (made of microtubule polymers) bind to the centromeres of chromosomes to pull sister chromatids to opposite poles.
- Mechanism of Colchicine: Colchicine binds to tubulin dimers, preventing them from polymerizing into microtubules.
- Without functional spindle fibers, the chromosomes cannot align properly or separate.
- This blocks the cell cycle and arrests the dividing cells in metaphase (specifically, mitotic metaphase).
- Because the chromosomes duplicate but the cell does not divide, washing out the colchicine leaves the cell with a doubled chromosome number (polyploidy).
Step 3: Final Answer:
Colchicine-treated cells are arrested in Metaphase.