Differences and similarities of plant and animal cells

A cell is the simplest element of the structure of an organism, characteristic of both the animal and the plant world. What does it consist of? Similarities and differences of cells of plant and animal origin will be considered below.

Plant cell

All that we have not seen and known before, always causes very strong interest. How often did you look at the cells under a microscope? Probably not everyone saw him in the eye. The photo shows a plant cell. Its main parts are very clearly visible. So, the plant cell consists of shell, pores, membranes, cytoplasm, vacuoles, nuclear envelope, nucleus, nucleolus and plastids.

Apparently, the structure is not such and tricky. At once we pay attention to the similarities of the plant and animal cells with respect to the structure. Here we note the presence of a vacuole. In plant cells, it is one, and in the animal there are many small, performing the function of intracellular digestion. Also note that there is a fundamental similarity in the structure: the membrane, the cytoplasm, the nucleus. The structure of membranes, they also do not differ.

Animal Cell

In the last paragraph, we noted the similarities of the plant and animal cells with respect to structure, but they are not absolutely identical, they differ. For example, an animal cell does not have a cell wall. Also note the presence of organelles: mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, ribosomes, cell center. An obligatory element is the nucleus, which controls all cell functions, including reproduction. We also noted this, considering the similarities between plant and animal cells.

Similarity of cells

Despite the fact that in many respects the cells differ from each other, we mention the main similarities. Now it is impossible to say exactly when and how life on earth appeared. But now many of the kingdoms of living organisms coexist peacefully. Despite the fact that everyone leads a different lifestyle, they have different structures, undoubtedly, there are many similarities. This suggests that all living things on earth have one common ancestor. Here are the main signs of similarity:

• Structure of cells;
• Similarity of metabolic processes;
• Encoding information;
• The same chemical composition;
• Identical division process.

As can be seen from the above list, the similarities of plant and animal cells are numerous, despite such a variety of life forms.

Differences in cells. Table

Despite the large number of similar features, the cells of animal and plant origin have many differences. For clarity, we give the table:

The main difference is in the way of food. As can be seen from the table, the plant cell has an autotrophic way of feeding, and the animal cell is heterotrophic. This is due to the fact that the plant cell contains chloroplasts, that is, the plants themselves synthesize all the substances necessary for survival, using the energy of light and photosynthesis. Under the heterotrophic method of nutrition is meant the ingestion of the necessary substances in the body with food. These same substances are also a source of energy for the being.

Note that there are exceptions, for example, green flagellates, which are capable of obtaining the necessary substances in two ways. Since the process of photosynthesis requires solar energy, they use the autotrophic method of nutrition during the daytime. At night they are forced to use ready-made organic substances, that is, they eat heterotrophically.