In the course of cell division, chromatin starts condensing and reaches maximum condensation during metaphase. It is now called a 'metaphase chromosome'. At this juncture, each chromosome has been duplicated. This condensation is mainly due to the histone proteins on which the DNA tightly wraps around. Various structures such as a centromere, kinetochore, telomere etc. can be distinguished in a metaphase chromosome as seen in the figure.