Golgi apparatus

Introduction & Top Questions
Structure
Protein trafficking and modification
Models of protein movement
History of discovery

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Diagram of the Golgi apparatus showing its stacked, curved membranes with labeled parts including cisternae, cis face, trans face, lumen, and various vesicles involved in cellular transport and secretion.

Diagram illustrating exocytosis in cell biology, showing how secretory vesicles from the Golgi apparatus fuse with the cell membrane to release proteins, with pathways for both regulated and unregulated secretion labeled.

The video thumbnail image shows an illustration of an animal cell next to a photo of a whale swimming in the oean.

Portrait photograph of Bartolomeo Emilio Camillo Golgi, Italian scientist with a large mustache, wearing a dark suit and white shirt, facing slightly to his left.

Cutaway illustration of a eukaryotic animal cell showing labeled internal structures, including the nucleus, nucleolus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and other organelles.

Illustration comparing three cell types: a round animal cell and an irregularly shaped plant cell, both showing labeled organelles, and an elongated bacteria cell with labeled structures such as flagella and capsule.

Side-by-side labeled diagrams of a typical animal cell and a plant cell, showing internal structures such as nucleus, mitochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum, and unique features like chloroplasts and cell wall in the plant cell.

Quizzes

Mechanism of cellular autophagy, illustration for Nobel Prize Award in Medicine 2016. 3D illustration showing fusion of lysosome with autophagosome containing microbes and molecules.

Parts of a Cell Quiz

Related Questions

How are lysosomal enzymes marked in the cis-Golgi network?
How can a ligand trigger the secretion of proteins from a secretory vesicle?
How did Camillo Golgi use the black reaction to study nerve cells?
How did electron microscopes confirm the existence of the Golgi apparatus in the 1950s?
How do microtubules support the Golgi apparatus?
How do proteins enter the cis face of the Golgi apparatus?
How do the cis and trans faces of the Golgi apparatus differ?
How does phosphorylation modify molecules in the Golgi apparatus?
How does the Golgi apparatus add fatty acids to proteins or lipids?
How does the Golgi apparatus change carbohydrate chains on glycoproteins?
How does the Golgi apparatus help form materials for plant cell walls?
How does the Golgi apparatus modify proteins after they leave the endoplasmic reticulum?
How does the Golgi apparatus package proteins for transport?
How does the Golgi apparatus send proteins to the cell membrane?
How does the Golgi apparatus sort proteins for different destinations in a cell?
How does the vesicular transport model explain movement through the Golgi apparatus?
How is the Golgi apparatus structured as a stack of cisternae?
How many cisternae are usually found in a Golgi apparatus?
How many cisternae can occur in the Golgi apparatus of some single-celled organisms?
What are the cis, medial, and trans compartments of the Golgi apparatus?
What can happen when a secretory protein has incorrectly modified carbohydrate groups?
What does the rapid partitioning model suggest about the Golgi apparatus?
What happens to lipids as they pass through the Golgi apparatus?
What holds the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus together?
Where are galactose groups added to proteins in the Golgi apparatus?
Where are mannose groups removed from proteins in the Golgi apparatus?
Where are sulfate groups added to proteins in the Golgi apparatus?
Where is the Golgi apparatus located inside a eukaryotic cell?
Where is the cis face of the Golgi apparatus located?
Where is the trans face of the Golgi apparatus located?
Who first observed the Golgi apparatus?
Why are carbohydrate groups important for some secretory proteins?
Why are the enzymes in different Golgi compartments not the same?
Why can plant cells contain hundreds of Golgi apparatus?
Why did some scientists initially question whether the Golgi apparatus was real?
What is the Golgi apparatus?
What does the Golgi apparatus do?
How was the Golgi apparatus discovered?
How is the Golgi apparatus structured?
What is chlorophyll?
What are the main types of chlorophyll in higher plants and green algae?
What is the structure of a chlorophyll molecule?
What are mutation hotspots?
What is a chloroplast?
Where are chloroplasts found?

Science Biology Cells, Organs & Tissues

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External Websites

British Society for Cell Biology - Golgi Apparatus
Florida State University - Molecular Expressions - The Golgi Apparatus
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Golgi Apparatus: A Voyage through Time, Structure, Function and Implication in Neurodegenerative Disorders
TeachMePhysiology - Golgi Apparatus
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology - Cell Biology of the Endoplasmic Reticulum and the Golgi Apparatus through Proteomics (PDF)

Golgi apparatus

physiology

Also known as: Golgi body, Golgi complex

Written by

Kara Rogers

Kara Rogers is the senior editor of biomedical sciences at Encyclopædia Britannica, where she oversees a range of content from medicine and genetics to microorganisms. She joined Britannica in 2006 and...

Kara Rogers

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 11, 2026 •History

Golgi apparatus, membrane-bound organelle of eukaryotic cells (cells with clearly defined nuclei) that is made up of a series of flattened, stacked pouches called cisternae. The Golgi apparatus is responsible for transporting, modifying, and packaging proteins and lipids into vesicles for delivery to targeted destinations. It is located in the cytoplasm next to the endoplasmic reticulum and near the cell nucleus. While many types of cells contain only one or several Golgi apparatus, plant cells...

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