Yes, mitosis results in diploid cells.
Understanding Mitosis and Diploid Cells
Mitosis is a type of cell division that produces two identical daughter cells from a single parent cell. Crucially, if the parent cell is diploid (containing two sets of chromosomes), the resulting daughter cells will also be diploid. This is a fundamental characteristic of mitosis. The process ensures that the genetic material is accurately copied and equally distributed to the new cells.
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Diploid: A diploid cell contains two complete sets of chromosomes, one inherited from each parent. Genome.gov defines diploid as "the presence of two complete sets of chromosomes in an organism's cells".
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Mitosis Process: Mitosis involves several stages (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase) where the chromosomes are duplicated and then separated to form two identical nuclei. Each daughter cell receives a complete set of these duplicated chromosomes, maintaining the diploid state. (Nature Scitable, Khan Academy, Genomic Education).
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Examples: Growth and repair in multicellular organisms rely heavily on mitosis. When a skin cell is damaged, mitosis creates new, identical diploid skin cells to replace it. Similarly, growth in plants involves many rounds of mitotic cell division from the diploid zygote. (Libretexts)
In summary: The fundamental outcome of mitosis is the creation of two identical diploid daughter cells from a single diploid parent cell. The process faithfully duplicates and segregates the chromosomes ensuring the diploid nature is conserved. (YourGenome, Ask A Biologist) The research on Saccharomyces cerevisiae highlights that most mitotic repair genes show no ploidy specificity, further reinforcing this concept. (PubMed)
