Cell Wall in Different Organisms : A Study

On the presence of Cell Wall , the plant cell and an animal cell are differentiate into different sections. We already know that cell wall is absent in animal cells. Different groups such as bacteria, fungi, algae & plant cells possess cell wall but their composition is different. We take a look on these structures –

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A.  Cell Wall of a Bacteria

• We know that bacteria is a prokaryotic cell.
• The structure of a Bacterial cell wall is complicated in comparison to their structure.
• It is about 100 A⁰ – 250 A⁰ thik , rigid & complex in structure.
• The cell wall is made of polysaccharide, lipid and protein.
• Beneth the cell wall, there is a cell membrane present which is made of protein and lipid.
• On the basis of structure & the characteristic of color regent reactions, it is classified into Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria.
• It has peptidoglycan ( made of two elements – peptide & Glycan ) or mucopeptide.
• The partial strand of peptidoglycan is attached with a small series of amino acid.
• The three amino acids are as : D – alanine , D – glutamic acid &   L – alanine.
• While the fourth amino acid is different in Gram positive and Gram negative bacterias. Gram positive bacteria possess Lysine while Gram negative possess Diaminopimelic acid.
• There are two types of bacterial cell on the basis of cell wall & plasma membrane composition and structure, that is given below.

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A Cell Wall - Structure

Difference Between Gram+ & Gram - On the Basis of Cell Wall Composition

Sr. No.	Gram Positive Bacteria	Gram Negative Bacteria
01	Cell wall is thick about 25 – 30 nm	Cell wall is thin about 10 - 25 nm
02	About 1 – 4%  Lipid is present in cell wall	About 11 – 22%  Lipid is present in cell wall
03	Fourth amino acid is Lysine	Fourth amino acid is Diaminopimelic acid
04	The dry weight of cell wall is about 20 – 40 % of the weight of whole cell	The dry weight of cell wall is about 10 – 20 % of the weight of whole cell
05	It possess Teichoic acid in cell wall	Teichoic acid is absent
06	There are two rings present on the basal body of cell wall	There are four rings present on the basal body of cell wall

B. Cell Wall of Fungi

• The cell wall of fungi is rigid and hard.
• It is made of chitin which is polymer of  N-acetylglucosamine.
• The molecules of chitin is found in the form of bundles.

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C.  Cell Wall of Algae

• The cell wall of the unicellular & multicellular algae is made of cellulose which is present on the outer side of  the cytoplasmic membrane.
• It is made of thick microfibers ( about 30 – 200 µm )
• Actually the cell wall of algae is made of cellulose, mucilage, pectin separately or mixed.   
• In red algae – pectin is present.
• In brown algae – alginic acid, fucoidin, fusin and hemicelluloses are present.
• In diatoms – silica is present.
• In blue – green algae, it is mucopolymeric which is made of glucosamine, amino acid, muramic acid and diaminopimelic acid.

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