[Evolutionary approach to the understanding of structural and functional organization of Golgi apparatus]

This article analyzes the literature data related to the discussion of the main models of intracellular protein transport, including vesicular and cistern maturation-progression models. The existence of an important Golgi complex (GC) component--continuous tubular structures--is emphasized and their possible participation in the intracellular transport is discussed. A brief review is presented, describing the peculiarities of intracellular traffic in eukaryotic species belonging to different stages along the evolutionary process. The evidence suggests that in higher eukaryotes, the dynamic membranous GC system was formed on the basis of tubular networks that performs protein sorting and selective protein transport.