In plant cytokinesis, the structure that forms to separate two new plant cells is called the:

• A. Cleavage furrow
• B. Spindle
• C. Cell plate
• D. Nuclear envelope

Answer: (C)

Plant cytokinesis builds a separating wall rather than pinching inward. In plant cells, vesicles derived from the Golgi fuse in the center of the cell to form a cell plate, with guidance from the phragmoplast. As these vesicles merge and expand, the cell plate grows outward and eventually fuses with the existing plasma membrane, becoming the cell wall that divides the two daughter cells. This contrasts with animal cells, where a contractile ring creates a cleavage furrow that constricts the membrane. The spindle handles chromosome separation during mitosis, and the nuclear envelope re-forms around each new nucleus after division. So the structure responsible for separating the two plant cells is the cell plate.