Plant and animal cells have several differences and similarities. For example, animal cells do not have a cell wall or chloroplasts, but plant cells do. Animal cells are mostly round and irregular in shape, while plant cells have fixed, rectangular shapes.
Plant and animal cells both are eukaryotic cells, so they have several features in common, such as the presence of a cell membrane, and cell organelles, like the nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum.
Animal cell Plant cell
Cell wall is absent present in plant
Shape is Round shape is rectangle
Chloroplast absent present in plant
Plastids are absent present in plant
Cell wall:
A difference between plant cells and animal cells is that most animal cells are round, whereas most plant cells are rectangular. Plant cells have a rigid cell wall that surrounds the cell membrane. Animal cells do not have a cell wall. When looking under a microscope, the cell wall is an easy way to distinguish plant cells.
Chloroplast:
Plants are autotrophs; they produce energy from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis, for which they use cell organelles called chloroplasts. Animal cells do not have chloroplasts. In animal cells, energy is produced from food (glucose) via the process of cellular respiration. Cellular respiration occurs in mitochondria on animal cells, which are structurally somewhat analogous to chloroplasts, and also perform the function of producing energy. However, plant cells also contain mitochondria.
Centrioles:
All animal cells have centrioles whereas only some lower plant forms have centrioles in their cells (e.g. the male gametes of charophytes, bryophytes, seedless vascular plants and ginkgo).
Vacuoles:
Animal cells have one or more small vacuoles, whereas plant cells have one large central vacuole that can take up to 90% of cell volume. In plant cells, the function of vacuoles is to store water and maintain turgidity of the cell. Vacuoles in animal cells store water, ions and waste.
Lysosomes:
A lysosome is a membrane-bound spherical vesicle which contains hydrolytic enzymes that can break down many kinds of biomolecules. It is involved in cell processes like, secretion, plasma membrane repair, cell signaling, and energy metabolism. Animal cells have clearly defined lysosomes. The presence of lysosomes in plant cells in under debate. A few studies have reported presence of animal lysosomes in plant vacuoles, therefore suggesting plant vacuoles fulfilling the role of the animal lysosomal system.
Flagella
Flagella present in some cells (e.g. mammalian sperm cells) and also or present in some cells (e.g. sperm of bryophytes and pteridophytes and Ginkgo)
Other organelles :
Cilia, Nucleus, Microtubules/ Microfilaments, Mitochondria, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Peroxisomes are present in both the plants and animal cells.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, both plant cell and animal cell differs significantly. The structure of a plant or animal cell depends on how it maintains its constant internal environment (homeostasis). Plants and animals evolved different ways of obtaining energy, and therefore their cells differ. How a plant or animal cell maintains its steady internal environment (homeostasis) determines its structure. Because plants and animals have distinct strategies for collecting energy, their cells are unique.
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