When you start thinking about the nucleolus, you might assume that it is a part of the nucleus, and you would be right. The nucleolus is essentially a suborganelle of a nucleus. You’ll be able to find nucleoli in both plants and animal cells, though there are some types of cells that might not have nucleoli. There are a variety of jobs that these essential components are responsible for and they are necessary for healthy cells throughout your body.
What Makes the Nucleolus?
There are 2 main components that are used to create a nucleolus: protein and RNA. RNA, Ribonucleic Acid, also contains different types of proteins that are important for making sure your cells stay healthy.
Making Ribosomes
Unlike other components that might be surrounding the nucleus, such as the nuclear membrane, your nucleolus is responsible for creating other types of organelles that float throughout your body, especially ribosomes. Since ribosomes are the main site for where the proteins in your body are made, the nucleolus is a very important part of your system. The main way that this suborganelle works to make ribosomes is by making each of the subunits that need to be combined to create a full ribosome.
RNA Production
If you have taken the time to look at the different ingredients inside of the nucleolus you might have noticed different types of r-genes. The nucleolus helps to create 50% of these ingredients in every single cell that they are in, which means that they are a very hard working suborganelle.
The Size of the Nucleolus
You might be surprised to learn that the nucleolus is the largest suborganelle that you’re going to find inside of the nucleus’ boundaries.
How the Nucleolus Evolved
All of the essential organelles inside of your system had to evolve over time to adapt to different living conditions and to make the human body what it is today. When living beings first transitioned from anamniotes to amniotes, the nucleolus became a much more complicated organelle. This shift from vertebrates without amnion to organisms that can adapt to terrestrial environments is what helped to make the nucleolus has complex as it is today.
Constant Research
All of the functions and parts of the nucleolus are so difficult to understand that scientists are still working towards learning more about the nucleolus and how it helps our body to survive and stay healthy.