Difference Between Cytoplasm and Protoplasm

Main Difference

Cell is the smallest structural and functional unit of a living body, it is generally microscopic. A cell in an organism body, mainly comprises of nucleus enclosed in a membrane and of cytoplasm. The confusion begins for the learner as cytoplasm is often refereed as protoplasm. Many think that they are differ due to their existence in plant and animal cell, but that is not as cytoplasm is one of the part of protoplasm of a cell. It should be kept in notice that, protoplasm is composed up of three parts; nucleus, cytoplasm and cell membrane. So with this one can know that protoplasm is one of the most important part of cell and it comprises the membrane and cytoplasm. Protoplasm is derived from the combination of two Greek words ‘Protos’ and ‘Plasma’, which means ‘first’ and ‘things formed’ respectively.

Comparison Chart

What is Cytoplasm?

Cytoplasm is one of the most important parts of a cell along with the cell membrane. It is the cell substance or organelle outside the nucleus it is present between the cell membrane and the nucleus. Cytoplasm is present within the protoplasm, which refers to the collection of cell membrane, nucleus and cytoplasm. The cytoplasm is a homogenous colloidal liquid, which consists of organelles, cytosol, and food reserves. The cytosol of the cytoplasm largely consist of water, salts, proteins and other organic molecules. On the other hand, organelles of the cytoplasm are Mitochondria, Golgi body, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome etc, they perform various functions. Mitochondria is held responsible for the cellular respiration, while ribosome act as the sites of protein synthesis. Other than this the other important functions cytoplasm performs are cell division and glycolysis.

What is Protoplasm?

Protoplasm is the translucent, viscid and watery substance with a jelly-like structure. The appearance of this important structure mainly depends upon the amount of water it contains. Physically it can be a gel like structure or a more watery substance, which may feel like a liquid. Protoplasm is derived from the combination of two Greek words ‘Protos’ and ‘Plasma’, which means ‘first’ and ‘things formed’ respectively. Protoplasm is mainly composed up of three parts; nucleus, cytoplasm and cell membrane, therefore keeping in view its importance the English biologist Thomas Huxley referred it as the “physical basis of life”. Depending on the cell type, the composition of protoplasm varies, generally it is sum up of 70 to 90 percent of water. The other mixture comprises of amino acids, monosaccharides, nucletic acids, lipids polysaccharide and others.

Cytoplasm vs. Protoplasm

• Cytoplasm is one of the part of protoplasm of a cell.
• Protoplasm is one of the most important part of cell and it comprises of the membrane and cytoplasm.
• Protoplasm is derived from the combination of two Greek words ‘Protos’ and ‘Plasma’, which means ‘first’ and ‘things formed’ respectively, whereas the term cytoplasm was introduced by Rudolf von Kölliker in 1863 as a synonym of protoplasm.
• The cytoplasm is a homogeneous colloidal liquid, which doesn’t have nucleus, whereas protoplasm is the translucent, viscid and watery substance with a jelly-like structure consists of cytoplasm, and plasma membrane along with nucleus.

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