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Right on all that. But plants are made of cells too and cells need amino acids for all the machinery of life. So how do they get away with so much less than an

Right on all that. But plants are made of cells too and cells need amino acids for all the machinery of life. So how do they get away with so much less than animal cells?

thaumasiotes 7y ago
In addition to using proteins for "all the machinery of life", animal cells use them extensively for purely structural reasons. Plants don't do this, so they need much less protein than animals do. This is basically just a repeat of my earlier comment, because I don't really understand what you're asking about. I don't see why it's a mystery that an organism which uses a lot of protein needs to produce much more protein than another organism which uses very little protein.
- Turing_Machine 7y ago
  Maybe it would help the earlier poster to lay it out more explicitly. The bulk of an animal's structure is made of things like hair, and skin, and muscle, and cartilage, which are made largely of proteins, which in turn contain a lot of nitrogen. The bulk of a plant's structure is made of things like cellulose and lignin, which contain no nitrogen.
- jacoblambda 7y ago
  Not OP but as you seem to be better informed with regard to cellular biology than me I am curious about something and figured this is a good time and place to ask. - Isn't part of the reason that plant cells contain so much less protein by mass because plant cells are larger and a large portion of their mass is a vacuole for storing carbohydrates and water? - How much lower is the protein content per cell in plant cells vs animal cells? - What organelles or increased concentration of organelles cause animal cells to contain more protein than plant cells if it isn't just that vacuoles skew the results? - If it isn't a difference in the cells, is it just a difference in organ structure between plants and animals? Note: Not trying to be snarky, legitimately interested in this as I have always has a passing fascination in cellular biology.
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    Plants use the carbohydrates for structure (cellulose). I'm not trying to be snarky either, if you are more than passingly interested, go get a textbook and read through it. It'll answer questions you have yet to think to ask.

Right on all that. But plants are made of cells too and cells need amino acids for all the machinery of life. So how do they get away with so much less than animal cells?

thaumasiotes 7y ago

In addition to using proteins for "all the machinery of life", animal cells use them extensively for purely structural reasons. Plants don't do this, so they need much less protein than animals do. This is basically just a repeat of my earlier comment, because I don't really understand what you're asking about. I don't see why it's a mystery that an organism which uses a lot of protein needs to produce much more protein than another organism which uses very little protein.

Turing_Machine 7y ago
Maybe it would help the earlier poster to lay it out more explicitly. The bulk of an animal's structure is made of things like hair, and skin, and muscle, and cartilage, which are made largely of proteins, which in turn contain a lot of nitrogen. The bulk of a plant's structure is made of things like cellulose and lignin, which contain no nitrogen.
jacoblambda 7y ago
Not OP but as you seem to be better informed with regard to cellular biology than me I am curious about something and figured this is a good time and place to ask. - Isn't part of the reason that plant cells contain so much less protein by mass because plant cells are larger and a large portion of their mass is a vacuole for storing carbohydrates and water? - How much lower is the protein content per cell in plant cells vs animal cells? - What organelles or increased concentration of organelles cause animal cells to contain more protein than plant cells if it isn't just that vacuoles skew the results? - If it isn't a difference in the cells, is it just a difference in organ structure between plants and animals? Note: Not trying to be snarky, legitimately interested in this as I have always has a passing fascination in cellular biology.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  Plants use the carbohydrates for structure (cellulose). I'm not trying to be snarky either, if you are more than passingly interested, go get a textbook and read through it. It'll answer questions you have yet to think to ask.