The chromatids of the meiotic chromosomes are closely associated in a single coiled chromonema at early metaphase. At late metaphase the 2 coiled chromatids in each homologue separate, and at late anaphase they are associated only at the fiber constriction. During inter-phase the primary coils disappear, and at the 2nd meiotic division only the secondary coils remain. The direction of coiling in homologous chromosomes is at random, and the direction of coiling may change at the fiber constriction.