During which phase do sister chromatids get pulled apart?

Sister chromatids are pulled apart during anaphase, which is a crucial phase of cell division. During this stage, the spindle fibers attach to the kinetochores of the sister chromatids and, as the spindle apparatus contracts, it pulls the chromatids toward opposite poles of the cell. This separation ensures that each daughter cell will receive an identical set of chromosomes, maintaining genetic consistency.

In the context of the other phases, during prophase, chromosomes condense and become visible, but sister chromatids remain attached at the centromere. Metaphase involves the alignment of sister chromatids along the equatorial plane of the cell, but they are still joined together at this point. Telophase is the stage that follows anaphase where the separated chromatids reach the poles, and the cell begins to reform the nuclear envelope around each set of chromosomes. Therefore, the action of pulling sister chromatids apart is exclusively characteristic of anaphase.