Structural Biochemistry/Cell Organelles/Nucleolus

Overview

The nucleolus, or plural nucleoli, is normally a circular structure composed of proteins and nucleic acids. Nucleoli are not typical organelles for the reason that they have no lipid membrane, making it with of the few non-membrane bound organelles in the cell. The nucleolus is located within the nucleus of eukaryote cells and is in charge of producing ribosomal RNA and the arrangement of ribosomes. The structure of the nucleoli can be seen using electron microsopy and fluorescent protein tagging can be used to view the dynamics of the nucleoli.

Nucleolus