Cells in Plants and Animals

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What Are Cells in Plants and Animals?

Every living organism, whether it is a mango tree or a human being, is built from cells. Cells in plants and animals are the smallest units capable of independent life — they can grow, take in nutrients, respire, and reproduce on their own. Both plant and animal cells fall under the eukaryotic category, which means each cell has a well-defined nucleus enclosed by a nuclear membrane, along with several membrane-bound organelles floating inside the cytoplasm.

While the basic plan of cells in animals and plants is similar — because both evolved from a common eukaryotic ancestor — plants had to solve problems that animals didn't (staying upright without a skeleton, making their own food, storing water) and animals had to solve problems plants didn't (moving, digesting food internally). This is exactly why their cell structures diverge in a few important ways, which we will break down organelle by organelle below.

For a step-by-step explanation from the NCERT textbook itself, you can also work through the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Science Chapter 5 — it covers this exact comparison with all in-text and exercise questions solved.

Common Features of Cells in Plants and Animals (Similarities)

Before looking at the differences, it helps to identify what stays the same in cells in Plants and Animals. Both cell types contain:

• Cell membrane – a thin, selectively permeable boundary controlling what enters and exits the cell
• Cytoplasm – the jelly-like matrix where most cellular activities happen
• Nucleus – contains DNA and controls all cell activities
• Mitochondria – the "powerhouse," generating ATP through respiration
• Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) – rough ER for protein synthesis, smooth ER for lipid synthesis
• Golgi apparatus – packages and dispatches proteins and lipids
• Ribosomes – sites of protein synthesis, either free-floating or attached to rough ER

Because both cell types need to release energy from food, both perform cellular respiration and release $\ce{CO2}$ and water as byproducts while consuming $\ce{O2}$.

Plant Cell vs Animal Cell – Structure & Differences

This is the core comparison students are usually tested on for plants and animal cell questions in Class 9, Class 11, and NEET. The table below lists every major point of difference in one place.

This comparison table is a favourite for one-mark and assertion-reason questions — practice how it's asked with NEET Chapterwise PYQ.

Structure of a Plant Cell

A plant cell is enclosed by a rigid cell wall built from cellulose, which sits just outside the cell membrane and gives the cell its fixed, boxy shape. Inside, a mature plant cell is dominated by one large central vacuole, sometimes taking up over 80% of the cell's volume — it maintains turgor pressure (which keeps leaves and stems firm) and stores water, ions, and waste products. Green plant parts also contain chloroplasts, the organelles that carry out photosynthesis using the chlorophyll pigment.

Structure of an Animal Cell

An animal cell has only a cell membrane as its outer boundary, which is far more flexible than a cell wall — this is why animal cells can change shape, a property that's essential for cells like white blood cells that need to squeeze through tissues. Animal cells contain centrioles, paired structures that organise the spindle fibres during cell division, and they typically have more numerous, smaller lysosomes that digest food particles and clear out damaged cell parts.

If you want to revise this exact chapter for competitive exams, the Cell: The Unit of Life NEET Previous Year Questions page has NTA-style questions with detailed solutions — a good way to test how well you've understood the differences above. Start practising now. For the full syllabus context, check the NEET Syllabus to see exactly how much weight the Cell Biology unit carries.

Plants and Animal Cell Diagram (What to Label)

A correctly labelled plant and animal cell diagram should show, side by side:

On the plant cell side: cell wall (outermost), cell membrane, large central vacuole, chloroplast, nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes.

On the animal cell side: cell membrane (outermost), nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes, lysosomes, centrioles, small vacuoles.

Why Do Plant Cells Have a Cell Wall but Animal Cells Don't?

Plant cells need a cell wall because plants cannot move to escape physical damage, water loss, or predators — the rigid cellulose wall gives structural support so the plant can stand upright without a skeleton, and it also protects the cell from bursting when it absorbs excess water. Animal cells don't have this wall because animals rely on movement and an internal skeleton (or exoskeleton) for support, and a rigid wall would prevent the shape changes many animal cells — muscle cells, blood cells, immune cells — need to function.

Cell Organelles Found in Both Plant and Animal Cells

To go deeper into how chloroplasts function once you understand the basic structure, the Photosynthesis in Higher Plants NEET PYQs page is a natural next step — it builds directly on the chloroplast concept covered here.

Importance of Studying Plant and Animal Cells for Class 9, Class 11 and NEET

This topic sits inside the Cell: The Unit of Life chapter and is examined at two levels: a basic, descriptive level in Class 9 Science (NCERT Chapter 5) and a far more detailed, organelle-level treatment in Class 11 Biology (NCERT Chapter 8), which is directly relevant for NEET. NEET typically draws 3–5 questions from this chapter every year, and prokaryote vs eukaryote and plant vs animal cell differences are among the most repeated question types.

• For the Class 9 level, revisit the NCERT Class 9 Biology Book PDF for the full chapter text — download it free.
• For Class 11 and NEET-level depth, work through the NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Biology Chapter 8 and the NCERT Exemplar Class 11 Biology Chapter 8 — solve the exemplar problems to push past textbook-level recall.
• Once you're confident with this comparison, test your recall speed with eSaral's NEET Test Series, which includes topic-wise mock sections on Cell Biology.

Want a structured, exam-focused revision plan for the complete Cell Biology chapter? Explore eSaral's NEET Course or Foundation Courses for Class 9, taught by Kota's top faculty.