Question

Describe the characteristic of the endoplasmic reticulum

Answer 1

It is a membrane folded into cisternae (sheet-like layers) to provide a larger surface area
rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) is covered in ribosomes and is used for protein synthesis
smooth endoplasnic reticulum has nothing on its surface and is used for carbohydrate and lipid synthesis

Answer 2

Endoplasmic reticulum is a three-dimensional, complicated and inter-connected system of membrane-lined channels that run throughout the cytoplasmic matrix. It is visible under the strong objective lens power of a electron microscope and not easily (as per structuring) visible on a standard laboratory or low-objective compound microscope.

Depending upon the nature of its particular membranes, endoplasmic reticulum is divided into two types; Smooth endoplasmic reticulum or SER and Rough endoplasmic reticulum or RER. SER has smooth membranes and contain no ribosomes buthe, RER contain rough membranes because a number of ribosomes occur attached to their outer surfaces.