Golgi Bodies

Golgi bodies, named after the Italian biologist Camillo Golgi, are composed of a stack of about half a dozen sacuoles, whose purpose in the cell are to prepare and store chemical products produced in the cell, and then to secrete these outside the cell. Golgi bodies are formed when small sac like pieces of membrane are pinched away from the cell. In the endoplasmic reticulum, proteins synthesized by ribosomes are sent through the canals of the ER, where they meet up with the Golgi bodies. The proteins are then packaged in vesicles. The membranes of these vesicles are then able to bond with the cell membrane, where their contents are secreted outside the cell. Protiens are not the only material packaged in the Golgi bodies. A portion of materials in the wall of a plant cell are assembled in the Golgi bodies.

The number and size of Golgi bodies found in a cell depends on the quantity of chemicals produced in the cell. The more chemicals, the more and larger bodies. For example, a large number of Golgi bodies are found in cells that produce saliva and other materials for digestion.

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