Differences Between Cell Wall and Cell Membrane – Imaluop

Hi, now we are going to discuss fundamental differences between cell wall and cell membrane which are two protective covering around the protoplasmic part of a cell and control enter and exit of different substances across the cell depending upon their requirements. 

Basic Information About Cell Wall: 

Cell wall is a tough structure surroundings the cell which protect the cell against external factors and give shape in case of some plant cells, cell wall also present in fungi, bacteria but the chemical composition is different in fungi and bacteria than the chemical composition of plant cell wall and cell wall make the outer boundary in case of plant, fungi and bacteria cell.

The cell wall in plant are results of secretion by living part of cell and it can have upto three layers primary, secondary and tertiary cell wall and outside a cell adjacent cells are separated by calcium or magnesium pectate but there are tubular tunnel like structure in plant cell wall which allows to communicate between two adjacent cells by protoplasmic thread. 

Cell Membrane: 

It is the outermost boundary in case of animal cells and some bacterial cells which enclose cytoplasm, nucleus and other important cell organelles in a cell and its selectively permeable nature protects the cell against entry of harmful chemicals.

The structure of the cell wall is very elastic; it has lipid bilayer which helps to pass different lipid soluble molecules across the cell membrane but most of the chemical can enter inside the cell membrane through the transport proteins present in the cell wall. 

Major Differences Between Cell Wall and Cell Membrane: 

Cell Wall	Cell Membrane
Cell wall not present in all organisms, cell wall only present in some selected organisms like in case of plant, fungi and bacteria though chemical composition varies in different cells.	Cell membrane is essential for all types of living cells and it is present in all organisms including all animal cells, all plant cells below the cell wall, all protozoa, all bacteria have cell membrane.
In case of bacteria, fungi and plant cells the outermost boundary is the cell wall and then the next boundary cell membrane is present but in some bacteria cell walls remain absent and in those cases the cell membrane is the outermost boundary.	In animal cells and some bacterial cells the outermost boundary is formed by the cell membrane because in those cells the cell wall is absent and only cell membrane present.
Cell wall show great variety in their chemical composition in different types of organisms even in plant cell different types of cell show variety in their chemical composition but in most of the plant cell main chemical composition is cellulose but other chemicals like lignin, pectin, chitin, glycolipids, glycoprotein also present in different extent in different cells.	Cell membrane show similarities in all organisms and they are mainly made of lipid bilayer and protein where the lipid present in different form like phospholipid, glycolipids and the protein present in cell wall show large variation in their functions and structure, some work as transportation channel while some cell membrane proteins work as cell receptor.
Cell walls have a fixed shape which determines the shape of a cell and it is much thicker than cell membrane and the thickness of cell wall is in the range of micrometres.	Cell membranes have no definite shape; it shows highly fluidity in nature and they are generally less thicker than the cell wall and the thickness of cell membrane are in the range of nanometres.
Cell wall is not living, it is just a chemical product produced by the cell and gathered around the living cells and highly permeable for most of the solvent but they are not able to distinguish between different types of solvent they just allow to pass all solvent.	Cell membrane is the living part of a cell and capable of distinguishing between different chemicals and only allow those chemicals which are required for cell but prevent the entry of any unnecessary harmful substances across the cell membrane.

Read More: Important Cell Organelles in a Living Cell