1844-1912

German plant cytologist who studied nuclear division in plants. Strasburger accurately described the embryonic sac in gymnosperms (conifers and others) and angiosperms (flowering plants). He explained the basic principles of mitosis and declared that new nuclei can arise only from the division of other nuclei, a modern law of plant cytology. Strasburger invented the terms cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. He showed that in angiosperms the primary structure involved in heredity is the nucleus and that the nuclei of angiosperm germ cells undergo meiosis.