Glossary

Binary fission

Binary fission refers to the process of cellular division undertaken by prokaryotes and Archaea (as well as a limited number of eukaryotes). Binary fission is similar to but much simpler than mitosis, as the bacterium only needs to replicate its DNA, move this DNA into opposite sides of the cell, and then create a cell wall separating the two components of the cell, pinching the bacterium into two pieces (see the figure below).

Binary Fission

Wikipedia