Skip to main content

Growth and Cell Enlargement

  • Chapter
Book cover The Golgi Apparatus
  • 1115 Accesses

Cell growth (cell enlargement) is as fundamental for growth of organisms as is cell division. Implicit in cell growth is an increase in cell size, i.e., cell enlargement. Without cell enlargement, no organism can continue to grow. Cells unable to enlarge eventually are unable to divide such that growth will cease. Yet, compared to cell division, the enlargement phase of cell growth has been largely neglected by cell biologists. Moreover, it is this part of the growth process where the Golgi apparatus may be most closely involved.

Proliferating cells in culture tend to double both their size and their mass before each division (Mitchison, 1971). A dividing cell, if spherical, in order to double in volume, must increase the surface covered by the plasma membrane by a factor of 1.6 (Graham et al., 1973). In addition, they must produce membrane material to compensate for degradation (turnover). Included within this category are dividing cells which form large parts of their surface membrane de novo along the plane of division within a relative short time such as during cell plate formation in higher plants (for review see Whaley, 1975) and furrow formation (Albertson et al., 2005) in non-walled cells during cytokinesis at the end of mitosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

(2009). Growth and Cell Enlargement. In: Morré, D.J., Mollenhauer, H.H. (eds) The Golgi Apparatus. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74347-9_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics