Answer to Question #84860 in Cell Biology for Seethal

Question

Differentiate between the following pairs
Procaryotes and eucaryotes
Animal and plant cells
Mitochondria and Chloroplast

Answer 1

1. The main difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes is that prokaryotes contain only a single loop of a chromosomal DNA referred to nucleoid, while eukaryotic DNA is organized in chromosomes. Prokaryotes also differ from eukaryotes in the structure and arrangement of their genes. In eukaryotes, the mitochondria and chloroplasts perform various metabolic processes, in prokaryotes, similar processes occur across the cell membrane. Prokaryotes are smaller than eukaryotic cells but have a larger surface area to volume ratio. The cell walls of prokaryotes are made of peptidoglycan while many eukaryotes do not have a cell wall.
2. Animal cells are smaller than plant cells. The shape of a plant cell is rectangular or cube-shaped whereas in animal cells, it round or irregular. Plant cells store starch as the energy source while animals cells store glycogen. Animal cells can produce ten amino acids whereas plants can synthesize all twenty amino acids. Animal cells do not have a cell wall, as plant cells that have a cell wall composed of cellulose. Plant cells contain plastids such as chloroplasts that process photosynthesis and have a vacuole. In animal cells, there are no plastids and vacuoles.
3. Mitochondria are two membrane organelles that produce energy for the cell in the form of ATP by using nutrients and oxygen. The chloroplasts are two membrane organelles where the process of photosynthesis occurs. Chloroplasts have an ellipsoidal shape while mitochondria are oblong. The inner membrane of the mitochondrion is covered in cristae whereas the inner layer of chloroplasts is composed of stacks of thylakoid sacks. The stacks are connected by stromal lamellae that keep the thylakoid stacks at certain distances from each other.