what is a homologous pair of chromosomes? how are homologous pairs different from sister chromatids
A sister chromatid refers to the identical copies formed by the replication of a chromosome, with both copies joined together by a common centromere. In other words, a sister chromatid may also be said to be 'one-half' of the duplicated chromosome. A pair of sister chromatids is called a dyad. A full set of sister chromatids is created during the synthesis (S) phase of interphase, when all the chromosomes in a cell are replicated. The two sister chromatids are separated from each other into two different cells during mitosis or during the second division of meiosis. Compare sister chromatids to homologous chromosomes, which are the two different copies of a chromosome that diploid organisms (like humans) inherit, one from each parent.
The paternal (blue) chromosomal and the maternal (pink) chromosome are homologous chromosomes. Following chromosomal replication, the blue chromosome is composed of two identical sister chromatids and the pink chromosome is composed of two identical sister chromatids.