Would a comma be required in this sentence?

Question

Would a comma be required before "and" in the following sentence? Why or why not?

Glycogen is found in animals and cellulose is found in plants.

Answer 1

Quick Answer:

Yes, a comma is needed.

In-depth Answer:

When two independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (in this case "and") a comma is needed. In this case, there are two independent clauses:

1. Glycogen is found in animals
2. cellulose is found in plants

The conjunction in this sentence is "and"

All together, this sentence should be written as:

Glycogen is found in animals, and cellulose is found in plants.

I hope this helps!