Does a mitotic cell cycle include interphase?
I see the confusion, it is due to the question being vague and a little sloppy with terminology. There is nothing called the mitotic cell cycle. This is jargon used to distinguish a cell cycle in which a cell undergoes mitosis versus a cell cycle in which a cell undergoes meiosis. So, there is the cell cycle and mitosis is part of the cell cycle. So, it is a matter of trying to decide what your teacher might want. Since the question is worded as mitotic cell cycle, most likely he/she wants a description of what happens to the chromosomes during mitosis (i.e., pairing at metaphase, separation at anaphase, etc.), since during “interphase” the main thing that happens with the chromosomes is that they are duplicated (during the S phase of the cell cycle). However, an answer that includes a description of the whole cell cycle might win you some brownie points…
