Plant and Animal Cells Comparison

Plant Cells vs Animal Cells

• Plant cells have a protective outer covering called the cell wall, made of cellulose, which provides support for the cell.
• Cell walls are also found in protists, fungi, and bacteria, but in fungi, it is usually made of chitin, a modified polysaccharide.
• Plant cells have chloroplasts, organelles involved in photosynthesis, which contain chlorophyll, giving plants their characteristic green color.
• Most of the cytoplasm in a plant cell is taken up by a large vacuole that crowds the other organelles, which contains cell sap and is a sign of a non-dehydrated plant.
• Plant cells do not have centrioles.

Transport Across Membrane

• The ability of molecules to move across the cell membrane depends on the semipermeability of the plasma membrane and the size and charge of particles.
• Lipid-soluble substances cross the membrane without resistance because "like dissolves like".
• Hydrophilic substances require facilitated transport, which depends on proteins that act as tunnels through the membrane.
• Channels are specialized proteins that only let certain substances through, such as aquaporins, which are water-specific channels.

Passive Transport

• Passive transport occurs when substances move down a concentration gradient to spread out and diffuse into an area with a lower concentration.
• Diffusion is the movement of a substance from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.
• Simple diffusion occurs when a hydrophobic molecule diffuses without the help of a channel-type protein.
• Facilitated diffusion occurs when a molecule diffuses with the help of a channel-type protein.

Osmosis

• Osmosis is the diffusion of water from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.
• Water moves to dilute concentrated solute particles in a solution.
• Osmosis occurs when water moves down its concentration gradient, from an area with less solute to an area with more solute.

This quiz covers the key differences and similarities between plant cells and animal cells, including their organelles, structures, and cell walls.