Fungi Cell Membrane And Bacteria Cell Membrane: 9 Facts

This article illustarte all around information on fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane with different facts in detail.

The fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane are different from each other but both play a very important role in the structural support, and maintenance of a whole cell.

Do both fungi and bacteria have a cell membrane?

Yes, both fungi and bacteria have a cell membrane. Most bacteria have a cell wall outside the plasma membrane in which the cell membrane has a bi-lipid layer like eukaryotes. The plasma membrane of bacteria has characteristic feature that is mainly composed of lipids and proteins. The cell wall of bacteria can be either gram-positive or negative.

A membrane surrounds the bacterial cell in the form of plasma membrane that is very important as nutrients and waste products have to be removed from inside. The bacterial cell membrane and cell wall include pumps and pores, some ion channels, and carrier proteins that maintain the specific concentrations of molecules and ions to keep the cell functional.

typical fungi cell fungal hyphae 600w 253345864
Fungal hyphae from shutterstock.com

The cell membrane of the fungi has an outermost layer that is external to the plasma membrane and the cell wall of this membrane is mainly composed of chitin and glucan. The fungi are a mixture of cellulose and chitin. Chitin mainly acts as a fiber matrix component that contains kinds of compounds such as glucan, mucopolysaccharide, polysaccharides,waxes, and different kinds of polymers.The matrix of cell wall on their membrame that is linked to the scaffolds of fibrous polysachharides.

Cell membrane detailed diagram 4.svg
Eukaryotic cell membrane from Wikipedia

Are fungi cell membranes and bacteria cell membranes the same?

No, The fungi cell membrane and bacterial cell membrane are not similar at all. The composition or structure of cell membranes is different from each other.

Most of the bacterial cell membrane including the cell wall made up peptidoglycan layer which is the thick layer of the peptidoglycan layer in gram-positive bacteria while the thin layer is in gram-negative bacteria. while in fungi, generally it is made up of chitin. It contains complete polysaccharides known as glucan and chitin. Around the outside of the cell membrane, the bacterial cell walls are different from the plants and fungi which are made of chitin and cellulose respectively.

The fungi are belong to the eukaryotes, while the bacteria belongs to prokaryotes.the components and structure of their cell membrane is different plus their lifecycles different as well.

Cell wall structure of Fungi
Fungi cell membrane from Wikipedia

Similarities between fungi cell membranes and bacteria cell membranes

The similarities between fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane is that, both having a cell wall with both group possessing cell membranes that consists of the phospholipid bilayer.

The fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane has one protective and rigid plasma membrane that protects their intracellular structure and gives mechanical support from all around. The Cell membrane of fungi and bacteria both play a very important role in the structural support, protection, and maintenance of whole cells.

1280px Gram negative cell wall.svg 1
The fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane example
from Wikipedia

Difference between fungi and bacteria cell membranes

Here the table shows the difference between fungi cell membrane and bacteria cell membrane :

Bacterial cell membrane Fungi cell membrane
Bacteria are prokaryotes, single-celled organisms with single circular organisms with no membrane-bound organelles or n nuclei.Fungi are saprophytic and parasitic, multicellular, eukaryotes containing contain membrane-bound organelles
Most of the bacterial cell membrane including the cell wall made up peptidoglycan layer.The funus cell membrane mainly cell wall is composed of chitin and glucan.
Most of the bacterial cell membrane including the cell wall made up peptidoglycan layer which is the thick layer of the peptidoglycan layer in gram positive bacteria while the thin layer is in gram-negative bacteria.The cell membrane of the fungi has an outermost layer that is external to the plasma membrane.some examples are  candida,Aspergillus ,Trichoderma and mushrooms.
fungal cell wall mushroom showing 600w 1875562060
Fungal cellwall of mushroom from Shutterstock

Conclusion

The fungi cell membrane and bacterial cell membrane are not similar at all. The cell membrane of fungi and bacteria has one protective and a rigid plasma membrane that protects their intracellular structure and gives mechanical support.

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