What does the rapid partitioning model suggest about the Golgi apparatus?

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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. — Golgi apparatus A membrane-bound organelle of eukaryotic cells, the Golgi apparatus is made up of a series of flattened, stacked pouches called cisternae that function as a series of compartments that progressively refine and direct cellular products to their proper destinations. .

The rapid partitioning model suggests that the Golgi apparatus functions as an organelle divided into distinct, separately operating compartments, such as those dedicated to processing versus those dedicated to exporting proteins and lipids.1

This model is one of several competing theories regarding how molecules move through the organelle. Unlike the vesicular transport model, which posits that stationary cisternae move molecules via budding vesicles, or the cisternal maturation model, which views the organelle as a dynamic structure where cisternae themselves mature and move forward, the rapid partitioning model emphasizes the functional specialization of different regions within the Golgi structure.1