The cell is the structural and functional unit of living beings. They are microscopic and their discovery is attributed to Robert Hooke in 1665. When Hooke observed the cork using a microscope, he called the squares he saw “cells” or “cells”, based on their similarity to honeycombs. Differences between Plants and Animals cells
There are two types of cells : eukaryotic and prokaryotic. The first are those that make up all multicellular organisms, both animal and plant cells are eukaryotic. The second are those that are self-sufficient in nature, such as bacteria and archaea.
Although both animal cells and plant cells are eukaryotic, there are structural differences between the two and we will see what they are below.
The main difference between an animal cell and a plant cell is that plant cells have a cell wall, which animal cells lack. The cell wall, which is made up of cellulose, is responsible for the cellular rigidity of plants; since the cells of these result in a fixed rectangular shape. Since animal cells do not have this structure, it can be seen that their shape is round and irregular.
Animal cells tend to vary widely in appearance. The cell wall of plants allows them to withstand the high pressure inside without bursting. Because of this, plants are able to accumulate large amounts of fluid. In contrast, animal cells, which only have a thin membrane; they tend to burst when they absorb too much water.
Both animal and plant cells have a defined nucleus, which contains chromosomes. The nucleus is protected and surrounded by the cytoplasm; a watery, gel-like liquid that contains organelles. In turn, the cytoplasm is also maintained in the cell membrane.
All animal cells have centrioles, while only a minority of plants have cells that have this structure. Furthermore, plant cells tend to have a large central vacuole that can represent up to 90% of cell volume. The vacuoles of animal cells are smaller and contain waste materials that, since they cannot be used, are secreted. In plant cells, vacuoles store water and maintain cell turgor; in those of animals, they store water, ions and waste.
Another important difference between animal cells and plant cells is that the latter have chloroplasts, which are used in the photosynthesis process; that allows plants to transform sunlight into food for cells.
Chloroplasts have their own DNA and tend to direct their own work. Animals lack chloroplasts and it is for this reason that they cannot feed only on sunlight.
Animal cell | Plant cell | |
Cell Type | Eukaryote | Eukaryote |
Cecular Wall | Does not have | If you have |
Shape | Round and irregular | Rectangular |
Organelles | Plasma membrane Nuclear membrane Vesicles One or more small vacuoles Centrioles Cytoplasm Endoplasmic rectum Ribosomes Mitochondria Golgi apparatus Microtubules / microfilaments Flagellum Lysosomes Nucleus Cilia DNA
| Plasma membrane Cellular wall Nuclear membrane Plasmodesmus Large vacuole Vesicles Plastos Chloroplasts Leukoplasts Chromatin Golgi apparatus Ribosome Endoplasmic reticulum Mitochondria Lysosome Scourge (some) Microbodies Cytoplasm Nucleus DNA Chromatin RNA Cytoskeleton Nucleolus |
Main Difference - Summary vs Conclusion Summary and conclusion are two terms that are often…
Difference between moth and butterfly fall into two categories: anatomical and behavioral. Most moths are…
An engineer is a person whose job is to design and build engines, machines, roads,…
Internet is the term used to identify the massive interconnection of computer networks around the…
A CD-R is a type of disc that does not contain any data. It is blank…
Computing technologies are constantly evolving, and if we base our predictions on Moore's Law, they…