Final answer:
Both plant and animal cells have several common organelles, including vacuoles, but differ in other structures such as the cell wall, chloroplasts, and lysosomes. The plant cell vacuole is a large central vacuole crucial for maintaining turgor pressure and storing nutrients, while animal cells have smaller, numerous vacuoles for storage and transport.
Step-by-step explanation:
Plant and animal cells share many common organelles, which are the subcellular structures that perform various functions to maintain cellular homeostasis and survival. Both plant and animal cells have a plasma membrane, cytoplasm, a nucleus, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and vacuoles. However, there are notable differences between the vacuoles in plant and animal cells.
Vacuoles in plant cells are usually a single, large central structure that plays a significant role in maintaining turgor pressure within the cell, which is essential for structural support of the plant. They also store nutrients and waste products and are involved in the degradation process. In contrast, animal cells typically contain smaller vacuoles, and they may be numerous, serving more in the capacity of storage and transport.
While most organelles are common to both plant and animal cells, plant cells possess several features that animal cells do not, including a rigid cell wall made of cellulose, plastids such as chloroplasts for photosynthesis, and plasmodesmata for intercellular communication. The cell wall provides structural support and protection to the plant cell and maintains its shape. On the other hand, animal cells have centrioles and lysosomes, which are not found in plant cells.
The endomembrane system is also an important feature in both plant and animal cells, including the nuclear envelope, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, vesicles, and the plasma membrane, which work together to modify, package, and transport proteins and lipids.