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Comparison of plant and animal development

Developmental strategies of plants and animals have developed separately for millions of
years. Both realms still have much in common, but some of their problems and solutions
are unique. So what are the fundamental differences between the development of land
plants and animals?
Model organisms
Animals
Plants
Mouse; Mus musculus
Thale cress; Arabidopsis thaliana
Zebrafish; Danio rerio
Maize; Zea mays L. ssp. mays
Fruit fly; Drosophila melanogaster
Snapdragon; Antirrhinum
C. elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans
Petunia; Petunia hybrida
African clawed frog; Xenopus laevis
Physcomitrella patens;
Chick; Gallus gallus domesticus
Physcomitrella patens
Multicellularity
Mechanisms of multicellular development developed independently in plants and
animals.
The last ancestor of plants and animals was a unicellular eucaryote. Gene comparisons show
there is not much homology between the genes that make up the body plan of plants and
animals. Although homeobox- as well as MADS box genes existed in the last common
ancestor, the MADS box gene family plays an important part in regulation of plant
development, but not in animal development, where homeobox genes are important.
Cell movement
Animal cells are motile.
Plant cells are positionally fixed.
Animal tissues may be folded and moved
Plant cells are trapped in rigid cell walls
against each other easily. At metazoan
made of cellulose, which prevents movement
gastrulation this way a triple layered system is of cells and tissues. Plants form three basic
built (entoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm).
tissue systems as well (dermal, ground and
Some animal cells may even move to other sites vascular), yet without gastrulation.
autonomously.
Rigidity of the body shape
The animal body plan is in most parts clearly Plant development is highly regulated by
determined.
the environment.
The basic body plan of an animal during its
As in most cases it may not choose or
different life stages is mostly clearly determined change its environment, it has to adapt to it.
by its genes. If the environment changes they The body plan is variable and characterized
may react e.g. by moving to another place or
by multiple times occurring, often iterative
changing their short and long term behavior.
structures. Proportions and frequency of
organs may vary.
Multicellular stages
During the animal life cycle there is just one The life cycle of land plants (and many

continuously multicellular stage


It is what we refer to as "the animal". Yet many
animals undergo one or more transformation,
when their body plan changes dramatically.

other plants) has haploid and diploid


stages.
This kind of life cycle is called alternation
of generations and leads to two different
body plans during the life cycle of the plant
(sporophyte and gametophyte).

Meiosis
In animals gametes are formed directly
Plants undergo no gametic meiosis, but a
through meiosis.
sporic meiosis.
There is nothing that could be compared to the In plants the meiosis produces spores and not
gametophyte in plants.
gametes. First the gametophyte is formed by
mitotic divisions, which then forms the
gametes.
Germline
Many animal species set aside reproductory No reproductory stem cells are set aside
stem cells early in development.
early in development in plants.
This decreases mutation accumulation.
Still some plants leave certain meristems or
meristem parts more inactive till the
gametophyte is to be formed.

Morphogenesis
Animals develop to a distinct, complete body Plants go through a longer period of
shape.
morphogenesis.
During their life stages still some reorganization During their development plants do not head
may take place, yet only in seldom cases new for a distinct body plan. Many plants just
structures will develop. Some animals develop grow and develop on and on till they die.
stepwise into different shapes.
Areas of actively dividing, undifferentiated
cells, called meristems, allow for iterative
growth and the formation of more and more
new organs and structures during a plants
life. They resemble embryonal stem cells in
animals, yet they continue existing during
adult life stages.
Plasticity
Animal cells are determinated early in
Plants show an enormous plasticity in
development
their development
When animal cells develop into tissues they are If, for example, a shoot is nibbled by a
clearly and in most cases irreversibly
herbivore, axillary meristems often grow out
determinate. While most tissues are regenerated to substitute for the lost part. This strategy
from stem cells, the regeneration of whole
resembles (limb) regeneration in some
organs just occurs at some animal species like animals. Whole plants can even be

Ambystoma mexicanum.

regenerated from single cells. Furthermore,


the form of a plant (including branching,
height and relative portions of vegetative and
reproductive structures) is strongly affected
by environmental factors such as light and
temperature, resulting in a great variety of
morphologies from the same genotype. This
amazing level of plasticity helps plants
compensate for their lack of mobility.

Plants and animals grow and differentiate their tissues in different ways. The main
differences are outlined in the table below.
Feature

Plants

Animals

Pattern of growth

Often can grow continuously

Tend to grow to a maximum size

How growth happens

Mainly by cell enlargement (increase in cell


size)

Increasing the number of cells

Where cell division


happens

Mainly at meristems found at the tips of shoots


and roots

In most tissues

Cell differentiation

Many cells can differentiate

Most cells lose the ability to differentiate at an


early stage

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