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Life Sciences => Cells, Microbes & Viruses => Topic started by: Chemistry4me on 04/02/2009 02:05:08

Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 04/02/2009 02:05:08
What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell? Structure? Shape? etc...
As much and as detailed information as you can give please.  [:)]
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: lancenti on 04/02/2009 03:15:34
Plant Cells
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1. Cell Wall
2. Chlorophyll

Animal Cells
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1. No Cell Wall

Structurally speaking, Plant Cells are more rigid bodies due to the presence of the cell wall. When submerged into a hypotonic solution, they become turgid and in hypertonic solutions they plasmolyse. Animal cells, on the other hand, will lyse and crenelate respectively.

Next difference that I know of would be that animal cells typically do not possess photosynthetic organelles. That's pretty 'duh', I know...
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 04/02/2009 03:18:39
What about a vacuole?
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: logicat5 on 04/02/2009 17:16:51
Quite a bit! Both are eukaryotic cells, but only plant cells have cell walls, vacuoles and chloroplasts (what makes leaves green)

Plant cells are more turgid due to the vacuole which is filled with sap and surrounded by a membrane called the tonoplast. Also they are larger than animal cell vacuoles.

Cell walls are made up of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin. In the case of fungi, it is chitin.

Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

Since animal cells don't have cell walls, they can morph easily and this is most obviously seen in phagocytic cells which engulf other cells.

Hope this helps?!

Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 04/02/2009 22:34:23
Yes, that helps a lot...[:)]

What about Mitochodria and ribosomes? Do their numbers vary between plant and animal cells?
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: logicat5 on 05/02/2009 10:46:19
In some plants, like conifers/flowering ones, they dont't have flagellae and centrioles like animal cells.

Both plant and animal cells have ribosomes and mitochondria, but some plants, like algae, have cyanobacteria also which, like mitochnodria, have their own DNA too.

But other than this, as far as I know, amount of mitochondria and ribosomes between plant and animal cells don't differ. Or at least not much I imagine.  [???]
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 05/02/2009 10:51:02
In some plants, like conifers/flowering ones, they dont't have flagellae and centrioles like animal cells.
Sorry, could you please remind me again what flagellae and centrioles are? Aren't flagellae what they use to move around?
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: logicat5 on 05/02/2009 15:43:46
Sure! Flagellae are motile structures, yes. they are found in bacterial and eukaryotic cells and aid movement.
Centrioles are made up of microtubules (usually 9) and are important in cell division.
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 05/02/2009 21:59:21
So why do animal cells need flagellae in the first place?
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Phil1907 on 06/02/2009 11:43:33
The primary difference is the chloroplast - and photosynthesis.  Unlike the silliness offered - vacuoles, mitochondria, centrioles, flagella, ribosomes are not discerning criteria.  Cyanobacteria and fungi are neither plants nor animals - the former is a prokaryote.  Not all plants have cell walls and the citation of phagocytes is irrelevant..
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Chemistry4me on 06/02/2009 11:48:30
Well okay, you sound like the expert Phil1907! [:D][:D]

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So why do animal cells need flagellae in the first place?
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: logicat5 on 06/02/2009 15:40:26
I´d like to invite Phil1907 to dinner...
Title: What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?
Post by: Phil1907 on 07/02/2009 11:25:12
Hey! I'll take dinner!

Flagella give the possessor a competitive fitness advantage - reproductive, access to food, whatever.  Evolutionary theory doesn't help with the why in the 1st place.  Maybe an endosymbiont, series of mutations, combinations of both, aliens, who knows.