About

Sharon Doty is an Associate Professor in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences within the College of the Environment. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Genetics in 1989 and earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University of Washington in 1995, where she studied Agrobacterium plant signal perception and responses under Prof. Gene Nester. Her postdoctoral research in plant biochemistry with Prof. Milt Gordon focused on developing improved phytoremediation of organic pollutants. Professor Doty's research interests include plant microbiology, nitrogen fixation in non-legumes, remediation of pollutants using plants, and biochemical production. She has contributed to the understanding of endophytes—microorganisms living fully within plants—and their roles in plant growth, nitrogen fixation, and adaptation to challenging environments. Her work emphasizes the importance of microbial symbiosis in plant health and environmental resilience, challenging traditional classifications of nitrogen-fixing plants and highlighting microbial contributions to plant adaptation under stress conditions. Her laboratory's research has broad implications for sustainable agriculture, environmental remediation, and understanding microbial diversity's role in plant growth and survival.

Research topics

• Biology
• Botany
• Ecology
• Agronomy
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Food science
• Horticulture

Selected publications

• Endophytes Increased Fruit Quality with Higher Soluble Sugar Production in Honeycrisp Apple (Malus pumila)

  Microorganisms · 2020 · 36 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Horticulture
  • Biology
  • Botany

  ) hosts provide several benefits that promote plant growth, including but not limited to di-nitrogen fixation, plant hormone production, nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and defense against phytopathogens. In exchange, the microorganisms receive domicile and photosynthates. Considering the known characteristics of nitrogen fixation and plant hormone production, we hypothesized that apple trees grown under nitrogen-limited conditions would show improved biometrics with endophyte inoculation. Our research objectives were to investigate the endophyte effects on plant physiology and fruiting. We examined these effects through ecophysiology metrics involving rates of photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and density, transpiration, biomass accretion, chlorophyll content and fluorescence, and fruit soluble sugar content and biomass. Our results showed evidence of the endophytes' colonization in apple trees, decreased stomatal density, delayed leaf senescence, and increased lateral root biomass with endophytes. A highlight of the findings was a significant increase in both fruit soluble sugar content and biomass. Future research into the mechanistic underpinnings of this phenomenon stands to offer novel insights on how microbiota may alter carbohydrate metabolism under nitrogen-deficient conditions.

  DOI

• Endophyte-Promoted Phosphorus Solubilization in Populus

  Frontiers in Plant Science · 2020 · 111 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Biology
  • Botany
  • Chemistry

  ) that solubilize phosphate. Using a combination of x-ray imaging, spectroscopy methods, and proteomics, we report direct evidence of endophyte-promoted phosphorus uptake in poplar. We found that the solubilized phosphate may react and become insoluble once inside plant tissue, suggesting that endophytes may aid in the re-release of phosphate. Using synchrotron x-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopy, we visualized the nutrient phosphorus inside poplar roots inoculated by the selected endophytes and found the phosphorus in both forms of organic and inorganic phosphates inside the root. Tomography-based root imaging revealed a markedly different root biomass and root architecture for poplar samples inoculated with the phosphate solubilizing bacteria strains. Proteomics characterization on poplar roots coupled with protein network analysis revealed novel proteins and metabolic pathways with possible involvement in endophyte enriched phosphorus uptake. These findings suggest an important role of endophytes for phosphorus acquisition and provide a deeper understanding of the critical symbiotic associations between poplar and the endophytic bacteria.

  DOI

• Influences of Climate on Phyllosphere Endophytic Bacterial Communities of Wild Poplar

  Frontiers in Plant Science · 2020 · 43 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Biology
  • Ecology
  • Botany

  were significantly more abundant in the phyllosphere endophytic community colonizing plants adapted to the xeric environment. In summary, this study highlights that sampling site is the major driver of variation and that only a few ASV showed a distribution that significantly correlated to climate variables.

  DOI

Recent grants

• Nitrogen Fixation in Poplar: Increased Efficiency of Bioenergy Crop Production

  NSF · $350k · 2009–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Albert Rivas‐Ubach

  Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

  2766 shared

• Amir Ahkami

  618 shared

• Kim Hixson

  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  616 shared

• Tanya Winkler

  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  615 shared

• Emma Gomez-Rivas

  University of Washington

  613 shared

• Galya Orr

  Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

  613 shared

• Young‐Mo Kim

  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  612 shared

• James Moran

  Georgetown University

  611 shared

Education

• Ph.D./Professor, Environmental & Forest Sciences

  University of Washington

Awards & honors

• UWAB Students & Faculty Members Receive Honors & Awards (202…
• Professor Sharon Doty promoted to Full Professor! (2016)
• UWAB Prof. Sharon Doty Highlighted by UW CoMotion Office (20…

Similar researchers at University of Washington

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• Jan Hansenh-130
• Linda Simonsenh-120
• Anna Waldh-119
• Jesse Bloomh-117