Hugo von MohlBorn 8 Apr 1805; died 1 Apr 1872 at age 66. German botanist noted for his research on the anatomy and physiology of plant cells. He was also first to propose that new cells are formed by cell division. He saw that the nucleus of the cell was within the granular, colloidal material that made up the main substance of the cell. In 1846, he named this substance protoplasm (a word invented by the Czech physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje to describe the embryonic material found in eggs). He carefully described (1835-39) some details of mitosis in plants, a process he observed in the alga Conferva glomerata. He recorded the appearance of the cell plate between daughter cells. He remarked, “Cell division is everywhere easily and plainly seen...in terminal buds and root tips.” |
