Differentiate between Mitosis in a plant cell and an animal cell based on Cytokinesis.
Topic: Cytokinesis in plant and animal cells
Answer
PLANT CELL: cytokinesis occurs by CELL PLATE FORMATION. A cell plate is laid down at the CENTRE of the cell and grows OUTWARDS towards the cell wall.
ANIMAL CELL: cytokinesis occurs by FURROWING (cleavage). A furrow appears in the cell membrane at the periphery and deepens INWARDS towards the centre until the cell is pinched into two.
Answer in a TABLE and make the DIRECTION explicit, because that is where the marks are: CENTRE-OUTWARDS in a plant, PERIPHERY-INWARDS in an animal.
THE REASON BEHIND THE DIFFERENCE, which is worth one line and makes the fact impossible to forget: a plant cell has a RIGID CELL WALL. You cannot pinch a rigid box in half from the outside, so the plant builds a new partition from the middle instead. An animal cell has only a flexible membrane, which can be constricted like a drawstring.
Note that this is the ONLY significant difference between plant and animal mitosis at this level, along with the absence of centrioles in higher plants. The stages themselves — prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase — are identical.
| Point of difference | Plant cell | Animal cell |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Cell plate formation | Furrowing of the cytoplasm (cleavage) |
| Direction | From the centre outwards | From the periphery inwards |
| Reason | A rigid cell wall prevents pinching | The flexible cell membrane can be constricted |