Facts about the Golgi Body
- In 1897, an Italian doctor named Camillo Golgi was investigating the nervous system. While examining cells under a microscope, he discovered a large organelle in the cytoplasm of the cells, between the nucleus and the cells' outer membranes. His initial name for this organelle was the internal reticular apparatus. However, when he announced his discovery the next year, the organelle was renamed the Golgi body.
- Until the 1900s, some scientists debated the existence of the Golgi body, saying that Golgi's observation methods were flawed. However, this century brought about the invention of more advanced microscopes, and later scientists were able to see the Golgi body more clearly and definitively confirm its existence.
- The number of stacks in a Golgi body depends upon the type of cell it is found in. A cell in a mammal, for example, can hold as many as 100 stacks. The individual stack itself usually carries four to eight cisternae, but some have up to 60. The stacks are connected via tiny tubes.
- Scientists do not understand everything about the way the Golgi body works. One particularly mysterious function is the way this organelle behaves during cell reproduction, or mitosis. As the cell begins to divide, the Golgi body actually breaks apart, disappearing during the division process. When the cell reaches a later phase of mitosis, called the telephase, the Golgi body reappears. This process only occurs in animal cells; during mitosis of plant cells or yeast, the Golgi body does not break apart.
- The number of Golgi bodies in an individual cell varies according to what the cell does. Plant cells tend to have large numbers, while animal cells have fewer but they are larger.
- http://www.life123.com/parenting/education/biology/golgi-body-facts.shtml
