Faculty Profile

Erica Cline, Ph.D.

• Ph.D., Forest Resources, University of Washington, 2004.

I am a microbiologist with research interests in mycorrhizal fungi and their role in forest ecosystems. Mycorrhizal fungi are symbiotically associated with plant roots. They are essential for growth of the majority of plants, including the conifers that dominate Pacific Northwest forests. I study biodiversity of these fungi and the effects of management practices such as clearcutting and thinning of forests. I am also interested in fungi causing plant diseases, particularly those that have recently entered the country as invasive exotic pathogens.

Before coming to UW Tacoma I was a post-doctoral researcher in the Systematic Botany and Mycology Lab of the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland. There I worked on nomenclature and taxonomy of invasive plant pathogens and helped to develop a database covering all published fungal species, searchable at http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.html modecode=12-75-39-00.

I did my Ph.D. research at UW Seattle in the College of Forest Resources. I studied the effects of forest harvesting on ectomycorrhizal fungi of Douglas-fir seedlings and trees, in the Cedar River and Green River, the watersheds of Seattle and Tacoma, respectively. I am teaching Introductory Biology and Environmental Microbiology.

Selected Publications:

Cline, E.T., B. Vinyard and B. Edmonds, Spatial effects of retention trees on mycorrhizas and biomass of Douglas-fir seedlings. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. In press.

Cline, E. T. and D. F. Farr, 2006. Synopsis of fungi listed as regulated plant pests by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: Notes on nomenclature, disease, plant hosts and geographic distribution. Online. Plant Health Progress.

Cline, E.T., 2005. Implications of changes to Article 59 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Inoculum 56(6):3-5.

Cline, E. T., J. Ammirati and B. Edmonds, 2005. Does proximity to mature trees influence ectomycorrhizal fungus communities of Douglas-fir seedlings? New Phytologist 166(3) 993-1009.

Trudell, S., E. Cline, M. Elliott, and R. Edmonds, 1999. Possible role of mycorrhizas in resistance to decline in Arbutus menziesii. In: Adams, A.B. and C. Hamilton (eds.), The Decline of Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii Pursh): Current Theory and Research Directions. The Pollard Group, Tacoma WA USA, pp. 123-130.

Cline, E. T., 1994. Signal transduction in Dictyostelium discoideum: discovery of a novel putative protein phosphatase. Masters Thesis, U. of Leiden, the Netherlands.

Cline, E. T., 1992. Signal transduction by a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH)-like membrane receptor in human prostate carcinoma cells. Senior Thesis, U. of Puget Sound, Tacoma WA.

Cline, E.T., D.F. Farr, and A. Y. Rossman. Synopsis of Phytophthora with emphasis on species not in the United States. Submitted to Plant Health Progress.

Cline, E.T., Vinyard, B., and Edmonds, B. (2007). Spatial effects of retention trees on mycorrhizas and biomass of Douglas-fir seedlings. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37:430-438.

Cline, E.T., Rossman, A.Y. (2006). Septoria malagutii sp. nov., cause of annular leaf spot of potato. Mycotaxon 98:125-135.

Cline, E.T., McCray, E.B., and Farr, D.F. (2006). Invasive fungi: Why fungal databases are a key part of the solution. Phytopathology 96:S25.

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