Plant cells vs animal cells
Compare typical plant and animal cells, identifying shared parts and differences involving cell walls, large central vacuoles and chloroplasts.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Lists parts shared by typical plant and animal cells
- Compares cell walls, large central vacuoles and chloroplasts in plant and animal cells and explains their functions
- Draws and labels typical leaf and animal skin cells, showing shared parts and differences
1 · Read
Blood delivers nutrients to animal cells. Now compare their parts with those of plant cells. Typical plant and animal cells share a membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria and ribosomes. The membrane controls what enters and leaves. Many reactions happen in the cytoplasm. The nucleus holds DNA instructions. Mitochondria release energy from food during respiration. Ribosomes make proteins. These are typical parts, not a list that fits every specialised cell.
Plant cells have a supporting cell wall outside the membrane; animal cells do not. Many leaf cells also have chloroplasts. Chloroplasts use light energy to make sugar from water and carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen. This is photosynthesis. Root cells usually lack chloroplasts. Animal cells have no chloroplasts. Typical plant cells also have mitochondria to release energy from food.
A mature plant cell usually has a large central vacuole holding cell sap: water with dissolved substances. It stores materials, and water pressure against the wall helps keep the cell firm. Animal cells can have small storage sacs, but not this large central vacuole. The wall gives support and shape. Chlorophyll is the green pigment in chloroplasts. It captures light for photosynthesis; it does not build the wall. A wall's support role does not explain how it grows.
Identify cells using structures, not outline shape alone. A complete diagram with no cell wall shows an animal cell in this comparison. A list of shared parts cannot identify the type. On paper, draw a typical leaf cell with a wall outside its membrane, a large central vacuole and chloroplasts. Draw an animal skin cell without a wall or chloroplasts. Label the membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus and mitochondria in both.
Typical plant and animal cells share several parts. Plant cells have cell walls and often a large central vacuole. Many leaf cells have chloroplasts; root cells usually do not.
Five readings and six flashcards written for this dataset. Cell-biology facts were studied using OpenStax and Khan Academy records; their prose is not reproduced.
More to read
Comparing two cell samples
Imagine examining a leaf cell and an animal skin cell. Begin with what they share. A membrane surrounds each cell's contents. Inside is cytoplasm, where many reactions take place. A nucleus contains DNA instructions. Ribosomes build proteins, and mitochondria help release energy from food.
Now check the differences. The leaf cell has a wall outside its membrane. A typical mature leaf cell also has a large central vacuole, and many leaf cells contain chloroplasts. The animal skin cell has no wall or chloroplasts.
These are typical examples. Specialised cells can differ from a school diagram. Root cells, for example, usually lack chloroplasts even though they are plant cells.
Use the structures as evidence. The outline alone does not identify the cell, and a structure left off a short list is not necessarily absent.
Two different boundaries
A plant cell's wall and membrane are different structures. The wall lies outside the membrane. It supports and protects the cell and helps it keep its shape. Much of a plant cell wall is made from cellulose.
The membrane controls which substances move into and out of the cell. A wall does not replace this membrane. A typical plant cell has both.
Animal cells have membranes but no cell walls. This difference helps when the choice is between a plant cell and an animal cell. It does not mean that plants are the only organisms with cell walls: fungi and many bacteria have walls too.
In a labelled plant-cell drawing, check that the wall is outside the membrane. Two labels pointing to the same boundary would hide the difference between these structures.
A plant cell without chloroplasts
Finding no chloroplasts does not by itself prove that a cell is animal. Many leaf cells contain chloroplasts, but root cells usually do not. Both are plant cells.
Chloroplasts carry out photosynthesis. They use light energy to make sugar from water and carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that captures light energy.
Plant cells still need to release energy from food. Typical plant cells contain mitochondria for respiration, just as typical animal cells do. Photosynthesis and respiration are different processes.
When identifying a cell, combine the available evidence. A wall outside the membrane supports a plant-cell identification in a plant-versus-animal question. A missing chloroplast label in an unfinished drawing tells you much less.
Water helps a cell stay firm
The large central vacuole of a mature plant cell holds cell sap. This is water with dissolved substances. The vacuole stores materials, and its water also helps support the cell.
When there is enough water, pressure pushes the cell's contents against the wall. The wall resists the pressure, helping the cell stay firm. Many firm cells together help support a leaf or soft stem.
When cells lose water, their vacuoles can shrink and this pressure falls. A plant may then wilt. The wall and water pressure work together; neither is a set of bones.
Animal cells can have small storage sacs. That does not give them the large central vacuole shown in a typical mature plant-cell diagram.
Check a pair of cell drawings
Draw a typical leaf cell and an animal skin cell on paper. Use the drawings to compare structures, not to claim that all cells have the same outline.
In both drawings, include a membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus and mitochondria. Put each name beside the drawing and connect it to the correct structure with a label line.
For the leaf cell, add a wall outside the membrane, a large central vacuole and chloroplasts. Do not add a wall or chloroplasts to the animal skin cell.
Write a short function beside each extra leaf-cell structure. The wall provides support and shape. The vacuole stores cell sap and helps keep the cell firm. Chloroplasts use light energy to make sugar.
Check your work by explaining one limit: root cells usually lack chloroplasts. Your leaf-cell example does not represent every plant cell.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.