Mechanisms of protein sorting and retrieval have been found to give organelles their characteristic composition.
The distinct structures of each organelle are thought to be caused by the different mechanisms of the processes which create them and the proteins that they are made up of.
[1][2] The process of organelle biogenesis is known to be regulated by specialized transcription networks that modulate the expression of the genes that code for specific organellar proteins.
In addition to this, the process requires the transfer of polypeptides to their site of function, guided by signaling peptides.
If proteins are not directed to their respective sites of subcellular function, a defective organelle that fails to fulfill its tasks within the cell properly may result.