Inheritance of the mammalian Golgi apparatus during the cell cycle

The creation and propagation of the intricate Golgi architecture during the cell cycle poses a fascinating problem for biologists. Similar to the inheritance process for nuclear DNA, the inheritance of the Golgi apparatus consists of biogenesis (replication) and partitioning (mitosis/meiosis) phases, in which Golgi components must double in unit mass, then be appropriately divided between nascent daughter cells during cytokinesis. In this article we focus discussion on the recent advances in the area of Golgi inheritance, first outlining our current understanding of the behaviour of the Golgi apparatus during cell division, then concluding with a more conceptual discussion of the Golgi biogenesis problem. Throughout, we attempt to integrate ultrastructural and biochemical findings with more recent information obtained using live cell microscopy and morphological techniques.