The endoplasmic reticulum is the largest organelle found in both animal and plant cells.

Its basic function is to manufacture and package proteins to send to the golgi body. The
ER’s basic structure is a bunch of interconnected flattened sacs called, cisternae. The
endoplasmic reticulum can be split into two main parts, the rough ER and the smooth
ER.

The ER is attached to the nucleus in a cell and is next to the golgi body. There are two
main types of endoplasmic reticulum, the rough endoplasmic reticulum has ribosomes
attached to its surface while the smooth endoplasmic reticulum is more tubular and
smooth. The ER has a multitude of important functions such as, synthesis, folding,
modification, and the transport of proteins. The rough ER specializes in the synthesis
and packaging of proteins while the smooth ER is mainly devoted to manufacturing
lipids and metabolizing them.

The endoplasmic reticulum functions hand-in-hand with the nucleus. Together they form
the endomembrane system which is involved in protein synthesis. On the other hand,
the rough ER works closely with the golgi body to send proteins to the golgi body
through a transition vesicle. This vesicle floats through to the cytoplasm, and the golgi
body absorbs it to send throughout the cell.