Plant cells are eukaryotic cells. They contain all the main organelles of animal cells: a nucleus, cell surface membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, rough and smooth ER, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes and lysosome-like vesicles. They also have several structures that animal cells lack.
• a cell wall made mainly of cellulose, outside the cell surface membrane, which supports the cell and stops it bursting
• plasmodesmata, fine channels through the cell walls that connect the cytoplasm of neighbouring cells
• a large permanent vacuole surrounded by a membrane called the tonoplast, containing cell sap
• chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis, in cells of green tissues such as the leaf mesophyll (root cells have none)
• amyloplasts and starch grains, which store starch
• pits, thin areas of the cell wallStructures found in animal cells but not most plant cells
• centrioles
• glycogen granules (plants store starch instead)
• cilia and microvilli, which are found on some animal cellsPlant cells also tend to have a more regular, often box-like shape, set by the cell wall, whereas animal cells vary widely in shape.Not every plant cell has every feature. For example, a palisade mesophyll cell is packed with chloroplasts, but a root hair cell has none, and a mature xylem vessel element has lost its contents completely. When identifying a cell in a micrograph, look for the cell wall and large vacuole first.
• a cell wall made mainly of cellulose, outside the cell surface membrane, which supports the cell and stops it bursting
• plasmodesmata, fine channels through the cell walls that connect the cytoplasm of neighbouring cells
• a large permanent vacuole surrounded by a membrane called the tonoplast, containing cell sap
• chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis, in cells of green tissues such as the leaf mesophyll (root cells have none)
• amyloplasts and starch grains, which store starch
• pits, thin areas of the cell wallStructures found in animal cells but not most plant cells
• centrioles
• glycogen granules (plants store starch instead)
• cilia and microvilli, which are found on some animal cellsPlant cells also tend to have a more regular, often box-like shape, set by the cell wall, whereas animal cells vary widely in shape.Not every plant cell has every feature. For example, a palisade mesophyll cell is packed with chloroplasts, but a root hair cell has none, and a mature xylem vessel element has lost its contents completely. When identifying a cell in a micrograph, look for the cell wall and large vacuole first.