Rate My Professor Allan Showalter

Allan Showalter is a Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at Ohio University within the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, where his dissertation focused on chicken collagen genes and proteins. Following his doctorate, Showalter completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, researching plant cell wall extensin genes under the mentorship of Dr. Joe Varner. In 1986, he joined the faculty at Ohio University, advancing through the ranks to full professor and serving as Chair of both the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology and the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in departmental committees and mentoring graduate students in plant biology research.

Showalter's academic interests center on the molecular biology of plant cell wall proteins, particularly the structure, biosynthesis, expression, and function of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins such as extensins and arabinogalactan-proteins. His studies also encompass plant adaptations to saline environments, including ion accumulation and water relations in halophytes. Key publications include 'Structure and function of plant cell wall proteins' (1993), 'Arabinogalactan-proteins: structure, expression and function' (2001), 'Effects of salinity on growth, water relations and ion accumulation of the subtropical perennial halophyte, Atriplex griffithii var. stocksii' (2000), 'A bioinformatics approach to the identification, classification, and analysis of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins' (2010), and 'Accumulation of hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein mRNAs in response to fungal elicitor and infection' (1985). He received the Baker Fund Award for research on plant cell wall proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana and an Ohio University Research Committee award for work on agricultural nanotechnology: nanofertilizers to enhance growth and yield in soybean. Showalter delivered an invited talk at the Second International Conference on Plant Molecular Biology at Qatar University and presented in the Plant Biology Colloquium on plant cell wall arabinogalactan-proteins. His research has shaped advancements in plant cell wall biology, with graduate students under his guidance presenting at conferences such as the Plant Cell Wall Biology Conference.