Animal, fungal and plant cells at Higher Level: The same statement as SL. HL papers ask you to compare animal and fungal organelles, and plant and fungal cells, in paired statements, and to decide from a micrograph whether a cell is from a plant or an animal.
Practise this as you read
- Distinguish in pairs: both cells in each sentence.
- Identify the cell type with a reason you can see.
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The big idea: Animal, plant and fungal cells are all eukaryotic — they all have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. But they are not identical.
A few key structures tell them apart
- Plant cells have a cellulose cell wall, a large central vacuole and chloroplasts.
- Fungal cells have a cell wall too, but it is made of chitin, and they have no chloroplasts.
- Animal cells have no cell wall at all — just a flexible cell membrane.
All three are eukaryotic, but you tell them apart by a few structures: the animal cell has no wall (irregular shape), the plant cell has a cellulose wall, a large central vacuole and chloroplasts, and the fungal cell has a chitin wall but no chloroplasts.
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| Feature | Animal cell | Plant cell | Fungal cell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cell wall | none | yes — made of cellulose | yes — made of chitin |
| Outer boundary if no wall | cell membrane only | — | — |
| Large permanent vacuole | no | yes (one large central one) | vacuoles, often large |
| Chloroplasts | no | yes | no |
| Usual shape | rounded / irregular | fixed, regular (often box-like) | often long thread-like hyphae |
Eukaryotic vs the cell type: Do not mix up two different comparisons.
Prokaryote vs eukaryote = do you have a nucleus? (covered in the previous lesson)
Animal vs plant vs fungal = which type of eukaryotic cell is it? — that is what this section is about.
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Start by defining the structures that do the telling-apart, because the exam questions turn on these exact words.
- Cell wall
- A rigid layer OUTSIDE the cell membrane that gives the cell a fixed shape and support. Plant and fungal cells have one; animal cells do not.
- Cellulose
- The carbohydrate that makes up the PLANT cell wall.
- Chitin
- The carbohydrate that makes up the FUNGAL cell wall (the same material as in insect exoskeletons).
- Vacuole
- A fluid-filled sac. Plant cells have one LARGE permanent central vacuole that keeps the cell firm; animal cells have only small temporary ones.
- Chloroplast
- The organelle where photosynthesis happens. Found ONLY in plant cells (and some protists) — never in animal or fungal cells.
Plant cell — built for support & photosynthesis
- Cellulose cell wall → fixed, regular shape
- Large central vacuole → keeps the cell firm
- Chloroplasts → can make its own food
Fungal cell — wall, but no photosynthesis
- Chitin cell wall (not cellulose)
- Vacuoles, which can be large, but no chloroplasts
- No chloroplasts → cannot photosynthesise
Animal cells are the odd one out: with no cell wall, only the flexible cell membrane holds them in. That is why an animal cell looks rounded or irregular, while a walled plant cell keeps a regular, fixed shape.
The big idea: Beyond the wall, four more structures tell the three kinds of cell apart: vacuoles, plastids, centrioles, and cilia or flagella.
The points to remember
- Vacuoles: a plant cell has one large permanent vacuole of sap that keeps it firm.
- Animal cells have only small, temporary vacuoles; fungal vacuoles can be large.
- Plastids are found only in plant cells: chloroplasts photosynthesize, and amyloplasts store starch.
- Centrioles are found in animal cells, not in plant cells (or most fungi).
- Cilia and flagella are found on many animal cells; flowering plants and most fungi have none.
- Store of carbohydrate: starch in plants, glycogen in animals and fungi.
Remember it as: Plants: wall, vacuole, plastids. Animals: centrioles, cilia, flagella.
| Structure | Animal cell | Plant cell | Fungal cell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cell wall | none | cellulose | chitin |
| Vacuole | small, temporary | large, permanent | can be large |
| Plastids | none | chloroplasts, amyloplasts | none |
| Centrioles | present | absent | absent (most) |
| Cilia, flagella | on many cells | absent (flowering plants) | absent (most) |
| Carbohydrate store | glycogen | starch | glycogen |
Real example: a potato: Potato tuber cells are packed with amyloplasts, plastids full of starch grains. Iodine solution turns them blue-black.
When you distinguish, name the structure for both cells in the same sentence.
Wall material counts: A fungal wall is chitin, never cellulose; naming the wrong material, or adding a wrong extra, loses the mark.
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How this is tested: Expect a quick identify question and a short Explain or State question.
Where it comes up
- Paper 1A: identify a structure found in animal cells.
- Paper 2 / Paper 3: explain why an animal cell looks irregular but a plant cell keeps a regular shape.
- Paper 2 / Paper 3: name the material of a fungal cell wall (chitin).
Exam-style question — irregular animal cell vs regular plant cell
Under the microscope, cheek (animal) cells look squashed and irregular, while leaf (plant) cells keep a neat, regular shape.
Explain this difference in terms of cell structure. [2]
How to score both marks
- Identify the structural difference. The plant cell has a rigid cell wall (made of cellulose) on the outside; the animal cell has only a flexible cell membrane and no cell wall.
- Link structure to shape. The cell wall holds the plant cell in a fixed, regular shape and resists being squashed; with no wall, the animal cell's membrane lets it be pushed out of shape, so it looks irregular.
- Answer the command term (Explain). Because the plant cell has a rigid cellulose cell wall and the animal cell does not, the plant cell keeps a regular shape while the animal cell is easily deformed into an irregular one.
Final answer
The plant cell has a rigid cellulose cell wall that holds it in a fixed regular shape; the animal cell has no cell wall — only a flexible membrane — so it is easily squashed into an irregular shape.
What earns the marks: Mark 1: name the structural difference (plant has a cell wall, animal does not).
Mark 2: link it to shape (rigid wall → fixed/regular shape; membrane only → deformable/irregular). Stating the difference without the consequence scores only one mark.
A student compares a cell from a spinach leaf with a cell from a human cheek. Distinguish between the structures of these two cells.
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