Cells of organisms of various systematic units have a number of differences. They relate to the shape, size and presence of certain structures. In our article, we will explain how bacterial cells differ from plant cells, and compare their structure.
What is a cell?
A cell is the smallest unit of the structure of organisms. This is the so-called "building material." Obligatory parts of each cell are the surface apparatus, cytoplasm and obligatory structures - organoids. Spare substances, the amount of which is variable, are called inclusions.
Plant cell structure
A distinctive feature of plant cells is the presence of chloroplasts. These are green plastids, on the inner surface of which the process of photosynthesis is carried out. Such a structure determines the autotrophic way of feeding these organisms. Bacterial cells differ from plant cells in the presence of other organelles. Thus, the presence of vacuoles is characteristic of the latter. These are cavities filled with an aqueous solution of mineral substances.
Plant cell sizes vary significantly. For example, the green alga Chlamydomonas can reach 1 mm, and the length of the bast fiber of flax - 5 mm. The average for plants is from 15 to 60 microns. Most of them can be viewed only with a light microscope.
In shape, the cells of bacteria differ from plant cells: they do not have much variety. In the parenchymal, the length is almost equal to the width or slightly exceeds it. They form the main, mechanical and conductive fabric. Prosenchymal cells are elongated, and their ends are pointed. They are part of wood.
Bacteria: organization features
Bacterial cells differ from plant cells in much smaller sizes. The smallest of them are on the line of sight in a light microscope. Their size is only 2 microns.
But the form of bacterial cells is very diverse. Cocci have the appearance of a ball, bacilli as sticks, staphylococci as clusters of grapes, vibrios as commas. Most bacteria are capable of active movement. This is done using flagella, mucus or gas vacuoles.
The body of bacteria is represented by one cell. On the one hand, this structure is distinguished by a rather simple structure and physiology. On the other hand, it performs the functions of the whole organism. A microscopic bacterial cell is able to feed, multiply, move, breathe, grow. Of course, all these processes occur at a primitive level. But this can not be called a disadvantage.
On the contrary, the unpretentiousness of bacteria made them creatures with the highest level of adaptation. They are found in boiling springs, in icy water, soil, inside and outside of other organisms, air and outer space.
Surface apparatus
The similarity in the structure of the surface apparatus in bacteria and plants lies in the presence of a membrane formed by a complex complex of proteins and lipids. This structure performs transport, mechanical and barrier functions. In both organisms, the cell wall is part of the surface apparatus. But its chemical composition is significantly different. In plants, it consists of cellulose, and in animals - pectin and murein. All of them are complex carbohydrates.
Bacterial cells have another structure of the surface apparatus - the mucous capsule, which contains a reserve of organic substances of the cell. It is an additional protection against mechanical damage and moisture loss. Another function of this structure is to create a barrier to the onset of phagocytosis - intracellular digestion of solid particles.
How bacteria cells differ from plant cells: the answer
There is another fundamental difference. Bacterial cells differ from plant cells in the absence of ... The answer will be unexpected: structures for storing genetic information. But this means that bacteria do not transmit hereditary traits and their subsequent generations of cells are not like them.
In fact, this is not so at all. Bacterial cells differ from plant cells only in the organization of genetic material. They do not contain a decorated kernel. DNA molecules have a ring structure and are localized directly in the cytoplasm. Such cells are called prokaryotic. Plants have a core in which hereditary information is stored and RNA molecules are synthesized.
Cells and tissues
Bacterial cells differ from plant cells in the absence of specialization. Each of them works separately, functioning as a separate organism. This also happens in unicellular plants. For example, green algae chlorella and chlamydomonas. Higher plants form tissues. These groups of cells are similar in structure and function. So, at the coverslip they are small and fit tightly together, creating a kind of barrier. And the composition of the main tissue, which forms the basis of the plant organism, includes large, loosely located.
So, in our article we examined how bacterial cells differ from plant cells. The main features are the features of the surface apparatus and structure of the genetic material.