BODY CARE

During telophase (pronounced "TEE-low-faze" or "TELL-ə-faze"), the last stage of mitosis, the chromosomes have reached the poles and they begin to uncoil and become less condensed (reversing the process that occurred during prophase). Two new nuclear envelopes begin to form around each of the two separated sets of unreplicatedchromosomes. As decondensation of the chromosomes proceeds, thenucleoli (which disappeared during prophase) form once again. A nucleolus is a region within a nucleus where ribosomes are assembled from proteins and ribosomal RNA. At the same time, there is a division of the cytoplasm(cytokinesis). In animal cells, a cleavage furrow — an indentation around the equator of the cell — appears (see photo left). 

By the end of telophase, the cell has divided in two along the plane defined by the furrow. In terrestrialplants, instead of a cleavage furrow, a flat cell plate forms halfway between the two separated sets of chromosomes, dividing the cell into two daughter cells (see figure at right). Note that mitotic plant cellsgenerally have a more rectangular appearance than those of animals.