AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -According to C. D. Darlington, Hofmeister had observed what would later be called chromosomes in a dividing cell nucleus as early as 1848. He left detailed sketches which are reproduced in Darlington’s The Facts of Life, though he was not the first to observe them.

Detailed explanation-2: -It’s generally recognized that chromosomes were first discovered by Walther Flemming in 1882.

Detailed explanation-3: -Wilhelm Hofmeister, (born May 18, 1824, Leipzig-died January 12, 1877, Lindenau, near Leipzig), German botanist whose investigations of plant structure made him a pioneer in the science of comparative plant morphology.

Detailed explanation-4: -Scientists first discovered chromosomes in the late 1800s, after the light microscope was invented. Using these microscopes, biologist Walter Flemming observed many tightly wound, elongated structures in cell nuclei. Later, it was found that chromosomes are made from DNA, the cell’s genetic material.

Detailed explanation-5: -The term chromosome was coined by W. Waldeyer.