Dr. Gary G. Cote'

I am trained as a biochemist/cell biologist. My research is on plant cells that produce crystals of calcium oxalate. These are hypothesized to provide support, protection and calcium regulation. We do some chemical analysis; students working with me are quantifying calcium oxalate levels in plant parts and identifying poisonous alkaloids possibly associated with crystals. We also do a variety of different kinds of microscopy, including bright field, polarization, fluorescent and scanning electron. At right is a picture of a cell from the common houseplant Dieffenbachia, which contains a bundle of spear-like crystals that can be shot out under pressure - into the mouth of anything chewing on it. Note the nipples at either end where the cell wall is weak and can be ruptured to allow crystals to be shot out. The picture was taken with polarization microscopy, which causes the crystals to glow.

I am the curator of the Microscopy at RU images which can be seen on the second floor of the Center for the Sciences. If you produce or have produced a striking image through microscopy while working at RU, send it to me for possible inclusion. If you are interested in microscopy techniques, take my BIOL 432 course; we do lots of microscopy of all kinds in the lab section.

I also serve as the webmaster for Wildwood Park, a jewel of a park situated in the middle of the city of Radford. On this website we catalog all the plants, animals and fungi known from the Park. Check out the website. Note that parts of the website were created by RU student projects, especially the interactive wildflower key, the similarly interactive leaf key to woody plants, and the microflora and fauna section.

If you are interested in my research on plant crystals, in microscopy at RU, or in the Wildwood website, come and visit me.