Sharon Doty

  • Professor
  • David R.M. Scott Endowed Professor in Forest Resources
    • : 206-616-6255
  • Visit Sharon's website

    • Sharon L. Doty

    • Professor
    • David R.M. Scott Endowed Professor in Forest Resources

    Research areas

    Plant microbiology

    B.S., Genetics, University of California, Davis
    Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle

    Autumn 2026 Admissions: Sharon Doty is not currently accepting graduate students for the 2026-27 school year. 

    Courses

    Current sponsored projects

    • Department of Energy (PI): Elucidation of the Roles of Diazotrophic Endophyte Communities in Promoting Productivity and Resilience of Populus through Systems Biology Approaches

    • Washington Tree Fruit Commission (PI): Phase 2: Biocontrol Strains from WA Native Plants for Postharvest Use

    Selected publications

    Sher, A. W., Tournay, R. J., Gomez-Rivas, E., & Doty, S. L. (2024). Bacterial synergies amplify nitrogenase activity in diverse systems. ISME Communications.

    Tournay, R. J., Firrincieli, A., Parikh, S. S., Sivitilli, D. M., and Doty, S. L. 2023.  Arsenic tolerance in the endophytes Pseudomonas PD9R and Rahnella laticis PD12R: A potential role for endophytic biofilms. Environm Sci. Technol. 57: 8728-8738 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08586

    Sher, A. W., Aufrecht, J.A., Herrera, D., Zimmerman, A. E., Kim, Y-M, Munoz, N.M., Trejo, J.B., Paurus, V. L., Cliff, J. B., Hu, D., Chrisler, W.B., Tournay, Gomez-Rivas, E., Orr, G., Ahkami, A.H., and Doty, S.L.  Dynamic nitrogen fixation in an aerobic endophyte of Populus.  The ISME Journal, 2024, 18(1), 1-14.  https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wrad012

    Doty, S. L., Joubert, P. M., Firrincieli, A., Sher, A. W., Tournay, R., Kill, C., Parikh, S. S. and Okubara, P. 2023. Potential biocontrol activities of Populus endophytes against several plant pathogens using different inhibitory mechanisms. Pathogens 12(1), 13.

    Varga, T., Ahkami, A. H., Hixson, K. K., Chu, R. K., Reno, L. R., Battu, A. K., Nicora, C. D., Winkler, T. E., Barnes, M. E., Fakra, S. C., Parkinson, D. Y., Antipova, O., Hall, J. R., Sher, A. W., and Doty, S. L. 2020. Endophyte-promoted phosphorous solubilization in Populus. Frontiers Plant Science.

    Firrincieli, A., Khorasani, M., Frank, A. C., and Doty, S. L. 2020. Influences of climate on phyllosphere endophytic bacterial communities in wild poplar. Frontiers Plant Sci. 11:203.

    Aghai, M. M., Khan, Z., Joseph, M. R., Stoda, A. M., Sher, A. W., Ettl, G. J., and Doty, S. L. 2019. The Effect of Microbial Endophyte Consortia on Pseudotsuga menziesii and Thuja plicata Survival, Growth, and Physiology across Edaphic Gradients. Front. Microbiol. 10:1353.

    Sharon L. Doty, John L. Freeman, Christopher M. Cohu, Joel G. Burken, Andrea Firrincieli, Andrew Simon, Zareen Khan, J. G. Isebrands, Joseph Lukas and Michael J. Blaylock. 2017. Enhanced degradation of TCE on a Superfund site using endophyte-assisted poplar tree phytoremediation. Environmental Science and Technology 51(17): 10050-10058.

    Shyam L. Kandel, Andrea Firrincieli, Pierre M. Joubert, Natalie Leston, Kendra McGeorge, Paudel, Liladhar, Patricia A. Okubara, Giuseppe Scarascia Mugnozza, Antoine Harfouche, Soo-Hyung Kim, and Sharon L. Doty. 2017. In vitro study of bio-control and plant growth promotion potential of Salicaceae endophytes. Frontiers in Microbiology.

    Ellen Weir and Sharon L. Doty. 2016. Social acceptability of phytoremediation: The role of risk and values. International Journal of Phytoremediation. 18(10):1029-1036.

    Zareen Khan, Hyungmin Rho, Andrea Firrincieli, Shang Han Hung, Virginia Luna, Oscar Masciarelli, Soo-Hyung Kim, and Sharon L Doty. 2016. Growth enhancement and drought tolerance of hybrid poplar upon inoculation with endophyte consortia. Current Plant Biology. 6:38-47.