Golgi apparatus/Golgi bodies/Golgisome/ dictyosome was first discovered by Camillo Golgi in the nerve cells of the barn owls. They were called internal reticular apparatus. They are present everywhere, except the cells of prokaryotes, mammalian RBCs, mature sperms etc.
The Golgi complex comprises of cisternae (which are flattened concave lamellae, larger towards the maturation phase and smaller towards the formation phase), tubules (minute tube like structures found as dialated structures towards the ends of the cisternae) and besides (sac-like structures that are spherical and pinched of from the cisternae). The membranes are unit membranes chemically made of lipo-protein and enclose vitamin C, fatty adds, enzymes etc.
Functions:
- They synthesize substances like mucopolysaccharides and enzymes.
- They produce secretory vesicles.
- They form the acrosomal cap of the sperm head.
- In plants cells they form the cell plate which forms the middle lamella.
