monaster

plural monasters

1. The single aster formation that forms at the equatorial plate at the end of metaphase in mitosis.

   At the same time the middle piece breaks down and releases the centriole, around which egg cytoplasm forms the sperm monaster.

   2012, Gerhard Czihak, The Sea Urchin Embryo: Biochemistry and Morphogenesis, →ISBN, page 179

   3 more examples

   After the encounter of the two pronuclei, one quadrant of the former positive cross of the monaster is missing on the side of the egg pronucleus.

   1951 November, Shinya Inoué, Katsuma Dan, “Birefringence of the Dividing Cell”, in Journal of Morphology, volume 89, number 3

   One finds the longest chromosomes in the vascular epithelial cells if the monaster is well developed (Fig. 24), whilst shortly beforehand (Fig. 15) the chromosomes are still rather short.

   2007, Leon P. Bignold, Brian L. D. Coghlan, Hubertus P.A. Jersmann, David Paul von Hansemann: Contributions to Oncology, →ISBN

   Large monasters can be produced in egg cells by a variety of methods; drugs, such as strychnine or chloral hydrate (Hertwig, 1887 ), hypertonic sea water (Morgan, 1896; Wilson,1901;Herlant, 1918),and by mechanical agitation (Boveri, 1903; Painter, 1915).

   2013, J. Gray, A Textbook of Experimental Cytology, →ISBN, page 161