Diagram of golgi body

Golgi Apparatus Definition • The Golgi apparatus or the Golgi body or Golgi complex or simply Golgi is a cellular organelle present in most of the cells of the eukaryotic organisms. • It is referred to as the manufacturing and the shipping center of the cell. • Golgi is involved in the packaging of the protein molecules before they are sent to their destination. These organelles help in processing and packaging the macromolecules like proteinsand lipids that are synthesized by the cell and hence act as the ‘post office’ of the cell. • Golgi apparatus was discovered in the year 1898 by an Italian biologist Camillo Golgi. Figure: Diagram of the Golgi Apparatus Structure of Golgi Apparatus • Under the electron microscope, the Golgi apparatus is seen to be composed of stacks of flattened structures that contain numerous vesicles containing secretory granules. • The Golgi apparatus is morphologically very similar in both plant and animal cells. However, it is extremely pleomorphic: in some cell types it appears compact and limited, in others spread out and reticular (net-like). • Typically, however, Golgi apparatus appears as a complex array of interconnecting tubules, vesicles, and cisternae. A. Cisternae • It is the simplest unit of the Golgi apparatus is the cisterna. • Cisternae (about 1 μm in diameter) are central, flattened, plate-like or saucer-like closed compartments that are held in parallel bundles or stacks one above the other. • In each stack, cisternae are separat...