What is Endoplasmic reticulum?
The transportation system of the cell which carries out various important functions is called the
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER).
It is a long tube which is bound by a membrane. This tube is placed around the nucleus and moves outward throughout the cell.
There are two distinct types of tubes in this network:
- Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (RER) – This part of the tube has some granular structures attached to it called the Ribosomes. The tubes of RER appear rough due to ribosomes.
- Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (SER) – This part is a plain tube. It lacks ribosomes and so the tubes of this part appear
Both the tubes of RER and SER form a network throughout the cell which assists the movement of substances throughout the cytoplasm.