Telophase is the fifth and final phase of mitosis, the process that separates the duplicated genetic material carried in the nucleus of a parent cell into two identical daughter cells. During telophase, the replicated, paired chromosomes have been separated and pulled to opposite sides, or poles, of the cell. A nuclear membrane forms around each set of chromosomes to separate the nuclear DNA from the cytoplasm. The chromosomes begin to uncoil, which makes them diffuse and less compact. Along with telophase, the cell undergoes a process called cytokinesis that divides the cytoplasm of the parental cell into two daughter cells.

Some key points about telophase are:

• Telophase is the final stage in both meiosis and mitosis in a eukaryotic cell.
• During telophase, the effects of prophase and prometaphase are reversed.
• The anaphase-mediated distancing of chromosomes from the metaphase plate may trigger spatial cues for the onset of telophase.
• An important regulator and effector of telophase is cdc48, a protein that mechanically employs its ATPase activity to alter target protein conformation. Cdc48 is necessary for spindle disassembly, nuclear envelope assembly, and chromosome decondensation.
• The chromosomes begin to decondense and the now-defunct spindle breaks down. A new nuclear envelope, derived from vesicles of endoplasmic reticulum, surrounds the unraveling chromosomes, and nucleoli re-form.

In summary, telophase is the final stage of mitosis and meiosis where the separated chromosomes reach the opposite poles of the dividing cell and the nuclei reform around them.