Similarities between a Plant and Animal Cell

What is a cell? According to Genetic Home Reference, “Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things.” There are two main branches in which a cell can be categorized. These branches are prokaryote and eukaryote. In the prokaryote category are bacteria; in the eukaryote category are plants and animals. Although plant and animal cells have a lot of differences, they also have their fair share of similarities. For instance, an animal cell has a centrosome, but so does a plant cell.

An average animal cell is made up of centrioles, cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum (smooth ER and rough ER), golgi complex, lyosomes, microtubules, mitochondria, nucleus, nucleolus, necleaopore, and ribosomes. Centrioles in an animal cell are made to organize microtubules during mitosis (cell division) stage. Cytoplasm helps move stuff around in the cell and also dissolves cellular waste. The rough endoplasmic reticulum makes membranes and fluid-like protiens. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum has many jobs such as carbohydrate and lipid synthesis. Next is the golgi complex, which is responsible for making, storing, and sending certain cellular products. Lysosomes have the job of breaking down cellular macromolecules. Microtubules have the main job of helping support and shape the cell. Mitochondria are what I like to call 'power houses’; they are the power producers in an animal cell. After the mitochondria is the nucleus, which according to Regina Bailey, “Contains the cell's hereditary information and controls the cell's growth and reproduction.” Inside of the nucleus is the nucleolus that helps in the synthesis of ribosomes. The nucleopore allows nucleic acids and proteins to move about freely. Last but not least are the ribosomes. Ribosomes are responsible for collecting the proteins in the cell.

An average plant cell consists of a cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplasts, cytoplasm, cytoskeleton, endoplasmic reticulum (smooth ER and rough ER), golgi complex, microtubules, mitochondria, nucleus, nucleolus, nucleopore, peroxisomes, plasmodesmata, ribosomes, and vacuole. The cell membrane in a plant cell supports the cell and helps maintain the cell’s shape. The cell membrane also can control which substances can go in and out of a cell. The cell wall also protects the cell and gives the cell its shape. Chloroplasts absorb energy from the sunlight. Cytoplasm’s main job is to move around substances inside a cell and dissolves cellular waste. The cytoskeleton of a plant cell is similar to that of a cell wall because the cytoskeleton helps to maintain the cell’s shape and gives support to the cell.