MadSci Network: Cell Biology |
Eventhough plants and animals are living things, there are some characteristics unique to plants! 1. Plants are mostly sessile i.e permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about (except single celled Chlamydomonas, Euglena etc). 2. Plants do not have nervous system/nerve cells and specialized sensory organ (that transduce light, pressure, sound, temperature information) found in animals. The 'touch-me-not' plant (Mimosa pudica) respond to touch stimulus by some specialized cells located in the pulvinus. 3. Plants are capable of fixing the light energy as chemical (bond) energy hence they are termed as autotrophs (meaning 'make their own food ') but all animals depend on plants (either directly or indirectly) for energy. These are some of the most general differences that one could observe between plants and animals. For a detailed information about the cell structure, tissue types etc refer to any general biology books. Biological Science by N.P.O. Green, G.W. Stout and D.J. Taylor Cambridge Univ. Press, ISBN 0 521 49855 4 Green
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