A diploid cell is a cell which has homologous pairs of chromosomes. This cell also has duplicated chromosomes. Whether or not chromosomes are duplicated or unduplicated is unrelated to whether or not the cell is diploid or haploid. Back to the top of page Metaphase I Note that it is the tetrads which align at the equatorial plane in metaphase 1. This is in contrast to mitosis and to meiosis II where duplicated chromosomes align at the equatorial plane.
Kinetochores connect the homologous pairs of chromosomes to the spindle fibers.
In anaphase 1 the homologous pairs of chromosomes separate, pulled apart by the kinetochores. The homologous pairs of chromosomes separate randomly. This means that chromosomes which came from the yellow parent or the red parent can move to either pole with the same probability. The duplicated chromosomes move the poles such that each pole gets one complete set of all of the chromosomes. In the image to the right, telophase and cytokinesis have occured.