The key difference between animal tissue and plant tissue is that none of the animal tissues are photosynthetic while most of the plant tissues are photosynthetic. Another important difference between animal tissue and plant tissue is that the animal tissues support the body movements of the animals but, plant tissues support the stationary phase of the plants.
The cell is the basic unit of living organisms. Prokaryotes are unicellular while most eukaryotes are multicellular. Plants and animals show complex body structures. They possess different tissues specialized for different functions. Tissues differ from each other by origin, structure, and function. Animals are heterotrophic while plants are autotrophic organisms. Hence, there are many differences between animal and plant tissues.
CONTENT
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is an Animal Tissue
3. What is a Plant Tissue
4. Similarities Between Animal Tissue and Plant Tissue
5. Side by Side Comparison – Animal Tissue vs Plant Tissue in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What is an Animal Tissue?
Animals are multicellular organisms. Their body comprises several different tissues. The animal cell is the basic unit of an animal tissue. There are four major types of tissues: epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, connective tissue and nerve tissue. Epithelial tissue lines the body organs. Muscle tissue helps in body movements. Connective tissue connects different tissues, organs and the whole body as one unit and transport substances throughout the body. Nervous tissue regulates and controls bodily functions and activities.
Figure 01: Animal Tissue – Nervous Tissue
Animal cells lack cell walls. The cell membrane is the outer most boundary of an animal cell, in contrast to plant cells. Animal tissue contains more live cells and these cells need more energy for functioning. All animal cells are heterotrophic. They are unable to make their own foods.
What is a Plant Tissue?
The plant body is made up of plant tissues. Two major types of plant tissues are meristematic tissue and permanent tissue. Meristematic tissue is a group of undifferentiated cells. They are capable of dividing and making new cells. This tissue is basically involved in growth and development of the plant. When a cell differentiates and loses its capacity to divide, it becomes a permanent cell. That means permanent tissues originate from the meristematic tissue. Simple permanent tissue and complex permanent tissue are two types of permanent tissues. Simple permanent tissue contains only one type of cells while complex permanent tissue contains different types of cells.
Figure 02: Plant Tissue
Parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma are simple permanent tissues which fulfill diverse functions in the plant. Xylem and phloem are complex permanent tissues that involve primarily in the conduction of water, minerals, and nutrients.
What are the Similarities Between Animal Tissue and Plant Tissue?
- Both animal tissue and plant tissue are made up of cells.
- These tissues have assigned functions.
What is the Difference Between Animal Tissue and Plant Tissue?
Animal tissue makes the animal body while plant tissue builds the plant body. Animal cells are the basic units of the animal body whereas plant cells are the basic units of plants. Animals are locomotive hence their tissues support the body movements. Plants do not move or show locomotion. Hence their tissues support the stationary phase. However, plant tissues produce their own foods by photosynthesis, unlike animals. There are four types of animal tissues in an animal body. On the other hand, there are two major types of plant tissues.
Summary – Animal Tissue vs Plant Tissue
Both animal tissue and plant tissue are made up of cells. They each have an assigned function. The main difference between animal tissue and plant tissue is their ability support locomotion and photosynthesis.
Reference:
1. “Animal Tissues: Types, Structure & Function.” Study.com, Available here.
2. “Tissue (Biology).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 May 2018, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “416 Nervous Tissue-new” By OpenStax College – Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site, Jun 19, 2013. (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Plant cell types” By Kelvinsong – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia