Animal and Plant Cells

The internal structural organisation and information related with hereditary characters and metabolic pathways are similar in all eucaryotic cells whether they are of plants, fungi, animals or protists. On the other hand plant and animal cells differ in some respects. Cell wall in plant cells is unique. It provides mechanical support and protection. Besides, the cell wall helps to balance osmotic pressure of the cell with the surrounding medium. It consists of a network of cellulose and a gel-like matrix. Plant cells also contain pigment containing organelles called plastids such as chloroplasts (green colour), chromoplasts (red colour) and leucoplasts (no colour). Chloroplasts help the plants to synthesise their own food in presence of sunlight (autotrophs). Presence of large vacuoles is another important feature which distinguishes the plant cells from the animal cells. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a significant role in the formation of vacuoles. Glyoxysomes, the microbodies found in some plant cells, are involved in lipid metabolism. Golgi complexes found in plant cells are called as dictyosomes. The animal cells, often contain flagella and cilia for movement, and centrioles for cell division. On the other hand, these-organelles are generally absent in plant cells.