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 soltions are unique. So
what are the fundamental differences between the development of land plants and animals?
ModeI organisms MuIticeIIuIarity CeII movement Rigidity of the body
shape MuIticeIIuIar stages Meiosis GermIine Morphogenesis PIasticity

Model organisms
Animals

O Mouse; Mus musculus
O ebrafish; Danio rerio
O ruit fly; Drosophila melanogaster
O elegans; aenorhabditis elegans
O African clawed frog; enopus laevis
O hick; allus gallus domesticus
!lants

O %hale cress; rabidopsis thaliana
O Maize; ea mays L. ssp. mays
O $napdragon; ntirrhinum
O !etunia; !etunia hybrida
O !hyscomitrella patens; !hyscomitrella
patens
Multicellularity
Mechanisms of multicellular development developed independently in plants and animals
The last ancestor oI plants and animals was a unicellular eucaryote. Gene comparisons show there is
not much homology between the genes that make up the body plan oI plants and animals.
Although homeobox as well as MDS box genes existed in the last common ancestor, theMDS
box gene Iamily plays an important part in regulation oI plant development, but not in animal
development, where homeobox genes are important.

ell movement
Animal cells are motile
Animal tissues may be Iolded and moved against
each other easily. At metazoan gastrulation this
way a triple layered system is built (entoderm,
mesoderm and ectoderm). Some animal cells may
even move to other sites autonomously.

!lant cells are positionally fixed
Plant cells are trapped in rigid cell walls made oI
cellulose, which prevents movement oI cells and
tissues. Plants Iorm three basic tissue systems as
well (dermal, ground and vascular), yet without
gastrulation.

#igidity of the body shape
%he animal body plan is in most parts clearly
determined
The basic body plan oI an animal during its
diIIerent liIe stages is mostly clearly determined
by its genes. II the environment changes they may
react e.g. by moving to another place or changing
their short and long term behaviour.

!lant development is highly regulated by the
environment
As in most cases it may not choose or change its
environment, it has to adapt to it. The body plan is
variable and characterised by multiple times
occuring, oIten iterative structures. Proportions
and Irequency oI organs may vary.

Multicellular stages
During the animal life cycle there is just one
continuously multicellular stage
It is what we reIer to as "the animal". Yet many
animals undergo one or more transIormation,
when their body plan changes dramatically.

%he life cycle of land plants (and many other
plants) has haploid and diploid stages
This kind oI liIe cycle is called alternation of
generations and leads to two diIIerent body plans
during the liIe cycle oI the plant (sporophyte and
gametophyte).

Meiosis
In animals gametes are formed directly through !lants undergo no gametic meiosis, but a sporic
meiosis
There is nothing that could be compared to the
gametophyte in plants.

meiosis
In plants the meiosis produces spores and not
gametes. First the gametophyte is Iormed by
mitotic divisions, which then Iorms the gametes.

ermline
Many animal species set aside reproductory
stem cells early in development
This decreases mutation accumulation.

o reproductory stem cells are set aside early
in development in plants
Still some plants leave certain meristems or
meristem parts more inactive till the gametophyte
is to be Iormed.


Morphogenesis
Animals develop to a distinct, complete body
shape
During their liIe stages still some reorganisation
may take place, yet only in seldom cases new
structures will develop. Some animals develop
stepwise into diIIerent shapes.

!lants go through a longer period of
morphogenesis
During their development plants do not head Ior a
distinct body plan. Many plants just grow and
develop on and on till they die. Areas oI actively
dividing, undiIIerentiated cells, called meristems,
allow Ior iterative growth and the Iormation oI
more and more new organs and structures during a
plants liIe. They resemble embryonal stem cells in
animals, yet they continue existing during adult
liIe stages.

!lasticity
Animal cells are determinated early in
development
When animal cells develop into tissues they are
clearly and in most cases irreversibly
determinated. While most tissues are regenerated
Irom stem cells, the regeneration oI whole organs
just occurs at some animal species like mbystoma
mexicanum.

!lants show an enormous plasticity in their
development
II, Ior example, a shoot is nibbled by a herbivore,
axillary meristems oIten grow out to substitute Ior
the lost part. This strategy resembles (limb)
regeneration in some animals. Whole plants can
even be regenerated Irom single cells.
Furthermore, the Iorm oI a plant (including
branching, height and relative portions oI
vegetative and reproductive structures) is strongly
aIIected by environmental Iactors such as light and
temperature, resulting in a great variety oI
morphologies Irom the same genotype. This
amazing level oI plasticity helps plants
compensate Ior their lack oI mobility.


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