THE GOLGI COMPLEX

Golgi Apparatus was discovered by the Italian microscopist Camillo Golgi in the year
1898. Golgi Apparatus/ Golgi complex/ Golgi body is called the delivery system of
the eukaryotic cell.
Once the proteins, lipids and other hormones are synthesized by the ribosomes they
are packed in vesicles and transported to the Golgi complex (retrograde flow) where
they are processed, sorted and delivered to their respective destinations.
The Golgi Complex is made up of 3 to 20 cisterns which resembles a stack of the
pita bread. It mainly has three sections:
1. Cis Golgi
2. Medial Golgi
3. Trans Golgi
The cis Golgi is present near the Endoplasmic Reticulum and the vesicles that are
transported from the ER reaches the cis Golgi first. The vesicles then move to the
medial Golgi where most of the metabolic activity is carried out. Then they are
modified (???) vesicle progresses to the trans Golgi where the sorting and the
distribution occurs.

Composition of the Golgi Complex

There are differnces in composition along the stack. The studies of thick and thin
sections of the Golgi demonstrated that AcPase and TPPase are present in theall
parts of cisternae. NADPase is found specifically in the medial Golgi. Several other
enzymes like 5-nucleotidase and adenylate cyclase are present in the stack. The
Golgi also showed a gradient of staining (cis to trans gradient) towards periodic
acid-silver methenamine (PA-silver). Note that ???????????????????? PA-silver stains
complex carbohydrates.
Transport areas??? /destinations????? of the biochemical:
1. Plasma Membrane
2. Extracellular environment
3. To the lysosomes

Mobility of the Golgi apparatus

While in mammalian cells Golgi stacks are localized in a juxtanuclear position, their
position in plant cells generally seems irregular.
Microtubules are necessary to maintain the global architecture of the GA but not the
stacks of GA.
Depolarization of microtubules leads to the dispersal of Golgi stacks throughout the
cytoplasm but at an individual level the stack remains intact.
Golgi Stacks:
1. Animal Cell: Only a single stack of interconnected cisternae is found in animal
cell.
2. Plant Cell (Dictyosomes): A dictyosome corresponds to an individual stack of
cisternae. Multiple dictyosomes are found in plant cells.

Functions of the Golgi complex

1. Post-Translational Modifications of the glycoproteins:

2.
3.

4.

5.

6.
7.

The terminal sugars (also called capping sugars) (for example: N-acetyl
glucosamine, galactose, fucose and sialic acid) attach to the oligosaccharide
chains which are linked to the glycoproteins with N-glycosidic linkage. Here,
the labor is distributed between the Rough ER and Golgi in glycosylation of
proteins,i.e., the core proteins are added in the RER whereas the terminal
proteins attach in the Golgi.
Packing of the secretion granules, lipids and other such elements via the
secretary pathway.
The removal of all glucose some mannose takes place in the Golgi from the
oligosaccharides which are very rich in glucose and mannose when they
leave the RER.
Glycosylation of the lysosomal enzymes: The biosynthesis of lysosomal
enzymes involves the transfer of an N-acetylglucosamine phosphate to
mannose residues of the enzymes which occurs in the Golgi.
Glycosylation of glycolipids: Like the glycoproteins, the Golgi also involved in
the glycosylation of some of the glycolipids most of which contain terminal
galactose and sialic acid residues.
Sulfation: When radioactive sulfate is administered in vivo, some of the
exposed grains accumulate near the Golgi.
The membrane of the cell surface can reach the Golgi implying that
membrane proteins can reach out to the Golgi for repair and modification.

References:
1. http://biology.tutorvista.com/animal-and-plant-cells/golgi-apparatus.html
2. Andreeva AV, Kutuzov MA, Evans DE, Hawes CR (1998b). The structure and
function of the Golgi apparatus: a hundred years of questions. J Exp
Bot49:12811291
3. Farquhar, Marilyn Gist, and George E. Palade. "The Golgi apparatus
(complex)-(1954-1981)-from artifact to center stage." The Journal of cell
biology 91.3 (1981): 77s-103s.
4. http://bscb.org/learning-resources/softcell-e-learning/golgi-apparatus/
5. Tortora, Gerard J., Berdell R. Funke, and L. Christine. "Case. Microbiology: An
Introduction." (2004).
6. Mader, S. S., Windelspecht, M., & Cognato, A. (2013). Biology. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
7. Losos, J. B., Mason, K. A., Singer, S. R., Raven, P. H., & Johnson, G. B.
(2008). Biology. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.