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Lesson: Chapter 6 — The Structure and Function of Plant and Animal Cells

6.4. Cell organelles and structures 6 of 8

Golgi complex and endoplasmic reticulum

The two remaining membranous organelles take charge of producing, carrying and packing material.

The Golgi complex

Figure to be added

Figure 6.12 — the Golgi complex: flattened sacs stacked one on another, with secretory vesicles around them.

The Golgi complex consists of Golgi bodies — a stack of flattened, membrane-bounded sacs arranged one above another — together with a group of secretory vesicles lying around them.

Functions of the Golgi bodies

  • Producing secretory substances
  • Packaging secretory substances
  • The secretory function itself

The endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum is a network of internal membrane systems held within the cytoplasm, made of flattened or tubular sacs. There are two kinds of it.

Figure to be added

Figure 6.14 — rough endoplasmic reticulum with ribosomes on its surface, and smooth endoplasmic reticulum without them.

Rough endoplasmic reticulum

It is rough because of the ribosomes attached to its surface. Its function is the transport of proteins.

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

This is a network of tubular sacs without ribosomes. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum produces and transports lipids and steroids.

The names give the difference away

"Rough" and "smooth" are not merely two words about appearance — the roughness comes from the ribosomes on the surface. And since ribosomes are where protein is made, it is no coincidence that the rough kind is the one that transports protein.