Animal vs. Plant Cell
What is the Difference between Animal and Plant Cells? The cell is the structural and functional unit of living beings.
They are microscopic and their discovery is attributed to Robert Hooke in the year 1665.
When Hooke looked at the cork using a microscope, he called “cells” or “cells” to the squares he saw, based on the similarity of these with the combs.
There are two types of cells: eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
The first are those that make up all multicellular organisms, both animal and plant cells are eukaryotes.
The second are those that are self-sufficient in nature, such as bacteria and archaea.
Difference between Animal and Plant Cell
Although both animal and plant cells are eukaryotes, there is a structural difference between Animal and Plant Cells.
The main difference between animal and plant cells is that the plant cells have a cell wall, which the animal cells lack.
The cell wall which is composed of cellulose is responsible for the cellular rigidity of the plants; since the cells of this result in a fixed rectangular form.
As animal cells do not have this structure, it can be seen that their shape is round and irregular.
Animal cells tend to vary greatly in appearance. The cell wall of the plants allows them to withstand the high pressure inside without actually bursting.
Because of this, plants are able to accumulate large amounts of liquid.
In contrast, animal cells, which only possess a thin membrane; usually explode 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; an aqueous liquid, similar to a gel and containing the organelles.
In turn, the cytoplasm is also maintained in the cell membrane.
All animal cells have controls, whereas only a minority of the plants have cells that have this structure.
In addition, plant cells tend to have a large central vacuole which may represent up to 90% of the cell volume.
The vacuoles of the animal cells are smaller and contain waste materials that, when they cannot be used, are secreted.
In the plant cells, the vacuoles store water and maintain the torpor of the cell; in animals, they store water, ions, and residues.
Another important difference between animal cells and plant cells is that the latter have chloroplasts,
which are used in the process of photosynthesis; which allows plants to transform sunlight into food for the 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 from sunlight.
