In all eukaryotes such as plants, animals, fungi and protists the internal structural organisation, metabolic pathways and information storage and release are similar.

However, the plant and animal cells differ in many respects. Cell walls in plants are unique. It is rigid, nonliving and mainly made of cellulose. It is occurs outside the plasma membrane.

It provides mechanical support and protection. Besides, the cell wall helps to balance osmotic pressure of the cell with the surrounding medium.

Some plant cells contain pigmented organelles called plastids. Chloroplast is important among them. It is green in colour. Leucoplasts are colourless and chromoplasts are red. Chloroplasts help plants in photosynthesis and hence, plants are called autotrophs.

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Presence of single or a few large vacuoles is another important feature that characterizes the plant cells. The animal cells have a number of smaller vacuoles.

Glyoxysomes, found in some plantcells, are involved in lipid metabolism. Golgi complexes found in plant cells are called dictyosomes. The animal cells often contain flagella and cilia for movement and centrioles for cell division.

A comparative account of the plant cell and animal cell is given in the generalized structure of a eukaryotic cell, showing differences between a plant cell and an animal cell is presented in the A typical plant cell and an animal cell are given in the respectively.