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COST Action PlantWallK
@plantwallk.org
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PlantWallK | COST Action CA24116 🇪🇺
Plant cell walls across scales
Methods • Imaging • Data
Network, training, STSMs & meetings
www.plantwallk.com

Cover: E. Tylová
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plantwallk.org
🌱 What does a plant cell wall actually do?

It helps cells withstand pressure, control growth, connect with neighbours and respond to environmental challenges.

The cell wall is anything but static.

#PlantWallK #PlantCellWall #PlantBiology #PlantScience #CellWallResearch
Onion (Allium sp.) epidermis. Light microscopy. Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
September 3, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
🌱 Primary or secondary cell wall?

Primary walls surround growing cells. Secondary walls provide additional strength in specialised cells and tissues. Different structures for different jobs.

#PlantWallK #PlantCellWall #PlantBiology #PlantDevelopment #CellWallResearch
Growing plant cells produce a primary cell wall around themselves. Some cells add a sturdy secondary cell wall to protect themselves against pathogens and drought. The strength of the secondary cell wall is primarily provided by lignin (and the size of the wall). The plant cell, with a vacuole in blue, is shown in the middle. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Caroline Dahl.
September 1, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
🧱 One wall. Many materials. Cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins, proteins and lignin come together to build the plant cell wall. And their organisation matters just as much as their composition, making them fascinating study subjects.

#PlantCellWall #Cellulose #Pectin #Lignin #PlantBiology
Uploaded a work by Christophe Loix, Michiel Huybrechts, Jaco Vangronsveld, Marijke Gielen, Els Keunen, Ann Cuypers from https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01867/full. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
August 31, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
🔬Technique Spotlight: Brillouin Microscopy

Brillouin microscopy measures the mechanical properties of plant cells and tissues without physical contact.

A powerful tool for exploring plant cell wall mechanics.

📷 Onion epidermal cells

#PlantWallK #BrillouinMicroscopy #PlantCellWall
Brillouin microscopy image of onion epidermal cells. A grayscale microscopy image shows the cellular structure, with a coloured inset mapping the Brillouin frequency shift across the tissue from purple to yellow. The scale bar represents 5 µm.
August 27, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
👀 Can you recognise the plant cell walls?

Look closely at the boundaries between the cells.

Can you guess what tissue or organism this image comes from? 🌱

#PlantWallK #PlantCellWall #Microscopy #PlantScience #GuessTheImage

📸 @laurabacete.bsky.social
August 24, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
🔬 How far does plant cell wall research take us?

🧪 cellulose
↓
🧱 cellulose microfibril
↓
🔬 cell wall
↓
🌱 cell
↓
🌿 tissue
↓
🌳 whole plant

Understanding how changes at one scale affect another is one of the major challenges (and opportunities) in the field.

#PlantCellWall #PlantScience #Biophysics
Simple illustrated diagram showing the organisation of plant cell wall structures across scales: a cellulose molecule → cellulose microfibril → cell wall → individual plant cell → tissue → whole plant. Green botanical illustrations are connected by arrows to show how these levels build from molecular structures to the complete plant.
August 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
🌱 Why Arabidopsis thaliana?

This tiny plant is one of the most widely used model organisms in plant science. Its small genome, short generation time and extensive genetic resources make it a powerful system for plant biology, including cell wall formation and function.

📷 @laurabacete.bsky.social
Several young Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings growing in dark potting soil in a small plant growth container. The seedlings have small, rounded green leaves and slender stems at an early stage of development. A magnifying glass is positioned above the plants, suggesting close observation of the seedlings.
August 17, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
⏰ 1 day left! Applications for the PlantWallK Training School close tomorrow.

🔬 Learn FLIM for plant cell wall imaging
📍 Prague
🗓 15–16 Sept 2026

Apply now: plantwallk.org/training-sch...

#PlantWallK #FLIM #PlantScience
August 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM
plantwallk.org
🔬 If you could learn one new technique for studying plant cell walls, what would it be?
• FLIM
• AFM
• Raman
• Electron microscopy
• Spatial transcriptomics
• Computational modelling
• Something else!

Tell us below 👇
#PlantWallK #PlantScience

📸 Jan Martinek.
False-colour confocal microscopy image of elongated plant cells showing brightly labelled cell walls (yellow, orange and red) surrounding a network of blue cytoskeletal filaments within each cell. The image demonstrates the level of detail that modern microscopy can reveal in plant tissues. Image credit: Jan Martinek.
August 11, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
What makes a research network valuable? For us, it is the people.

PlantWallK connects researchers working on plant cell walls across disciplines through meetings, Training Schools and collaborative projects.

Learn more: www.plantwallk.org

#PlantWallK #PlantScience #COSTAction
PlantWallK · COST Action CA24116
PlantWallK COST Action CA24116 — European network advancing plant cell wall research through integrated methods, data analysis, and modelling.
www.plantwallk.org
August 10, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
Modern imaging techniques allow us to observe plant cell walls with remarkable detail, from fluorescent reporters to electron microscopy and mechanical imaging. Each method provides a different perspective on this complex and dynamic structure. Which #microscopy technique is your favourite?
Illustration of Kircher's microscope, from Musaeum Kircherianum (1709) by Filippo Buonanni, curator of the Kircher Museum in the Collegio Romano. Image sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive / Biodiversity Heritage Library / Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
August 6, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
💡 Why study plant cell walls?

Plant cell walls influence almost every aspect of plant life:
🌱 Growth
🌾 Crop yield
🦠 Disease resistance
💧 Drought tolerance
🌍 Sustainable biomaterials

Understanding them benefits both fundamental science and society.
#PlantWallK #PlantResearch #CellWall #PlantBiology
August 4, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
📅 Reminder: the PlantWallK WG2 webinar on Image & Data Analysis takes place this Friday, 7 August, at 14:00 CEST.
🔹 Tereza Belinova (ISTA) — From Pixels to Patterns
🔹 Beatriz Serrano-Solano (EMBL Heidelberg) — AI4Life Highlights
🔹 Host: @stephanevrg.bsky.social

#PlantCellWall #AI #ImageAnalysis
August 3, 2026 at 12:36 PM
plantwallk.org
📢 Applications are open! PlantWallK Training School: Beyond Intensity: FLIM for Plant Cell Wall Imaging.

🗓 15–16 Sept 2026
📍 Prague, Czech Republic

⏳ Apply by 16 August:
plantwallk.org/training-sch...
#PlantWallK #FLIM #PlantScience #Microscopy
July 31, 2026 at 12:15 PM
plantwallk.org
Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, but it is only one component of the plant cell wall.

Pectins, hemicelluloses, structural proteins and lignin all contribute to the remarkable properties of plant cell walls.

#PlantWallK #Cellulose #PlantCellWall #PlantScience
Cellulose nanofiber network. Image by Qspheroid4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
July 30, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
AFM lets researchers measure plant cell wall mechanics at the nanoscale, revealing stiffness changes during growth, development, or stress and how plants shape and respond to their environment. Have you used AFM in your research?

#PlantWallK #AFM #Biomechanics #PlantScience #Microscopy
Picture of AFM microscope at UPSC facility
July 28, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
Plant cell walls aren’t rigid; they’re dynamic materials that adapt during growth, development, and environmental change. Understanding them boosts crop resilience, enables sustainable biomaterials, and deepens our knowledge of #PlantBiology.

What aspect of the plant cell wall fascinates you most?
Owing to osmotic loss of water from the vacuole, the living protoplast of a plant cell is detached from the cell wall during plasmolysis. This process is induced by hypertonic salt or sugar solutions. A network‐like structure, surrounded by the plasma membrane, remains closely attached to the cell wall. Image credit: Krishna satya 333, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
July 27, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
🔬 Postdoc opportunity: how do plant cells sense and respond to changes in their cell walls? Join the @cellwalldynamics.com lab @umeaplantsciencecentre.se, integrating Brillouin, O-PTIR & spatial transcriptomics on the Arabidopsis root. Deadline 31 Aug 2026 🔗
buff.ly/cPFemXd #PlantScience #Postdoc
July 21, 2026 at 7:01 AM
plantwallk.org
📢 Two postdoc positions available in @mc-caillaud.bsky.social's group (RDP lab, ENS de Lyon), part of an ERC Consolidator. Project: how plant cells orient their division, combining cell biology, molecular genetics, and mechanical modelling.
📅 Deadline: 1 Oct 26 | Start: Nov 26 onwards
Details 🧵👇
Recruitment flyer for two postdoc-funded positions in Marie-Cécile Caillaud's group (RDP laboratory, ENS de Lyon, France). Across the top run six scientific images: a line drawing of an Arabidopsis seedling with roots; a 3D digital reconstruction of a shoot apical meristem with orange and purple sectors marking cell lineages; a confocal microscopy image of plant tissue with green cell outlines and red/orange fluorescent nuclei; two paired 3D cell models in orange/green and yellow/purple showing division plane geometry; and a fluorescence microscopy image of a dividing cell with yellow microtubule-like structures and cyan nuclei on a dark background. Below, the title reads "Two Postdoc-funded positions" with an ERC logo, followed by "Deadline: 1st of Oct 2026" and "Starting date: Nov 2026 and onwards" in a bordered box. The body text is organised into sections: PROJECT (describing research into how plant cells orient their division, combining cell biology, molecular genetics, and multiscale mechanical modelling, with a link to the team website), CANDIDATE (looking for motivated candidates with a strong publication record, prior expertise in plant cell biology or biophysics as a plus, working language English), ENVIRONMENT (describing the ERC Consolidator project, the RDP laboratory hosted at ENS de Lyon, an international and gender-balanced working environment, and the city of Lyon), and RECENT PUBLICATIONS (three pinned references: Goldy et al. 2026 in Science Advances, Gascon et al. 2025 in Current Biology, and Lebecq et al. 2023 in Science Advances). An envelope icon box at the bottom right gives instructions to send a single PDF (cover letter, short summary of previous research, CV with publications, and contact details for two to three referees) to marie-cecile.caillaud@ens-lyon.fr.
July 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM
plantwallk.org
Proud to support our young scientists in the #PlantWallK network!!
barbjel.bsky.social Barbora Jelínková @barbjel.bsky.social · Jul 19
Hello from #PlantBio2026 in Ottawa! So excited to be here!
Could not have done it without the support from @plantwallk.org

If you’re here come say hi, I’ll be at a poster 400-002 🌱
July 19, 2026 at 4:17 PM
plantwallk.org
📢 PlantWallK WG2 Webinar — "Image & Data Analysis"
Join us for an introduction to AI for image processing, with two talks:
🔹 Tereza Belinova (ISTA) — From Pixels to Patterns
🔹 Beatriz Serrano-Solano (EMBL Heidelberg) — AI4Life Highlights
🔹 Hosted by @stephanevrg.bsky.social
📅 Fri 7 Aug, 14:00 CEST
Flyer for the PlantWallK WG2 Image and Data Analysis Webinar, COST Action CA24116, on a pale green background. Top left shows the grey COST Action "European Cooperation in Science and Technology" logo; top right shows the PlantWallK logo, a stylised green leaf built from geometric cell-wall-like facets, above the text "PlantWallK, COST Action 24116". Below, in green, "COST ACTION CA24116 – Advancing Plant Cell Wall Knowledge", followed by a dark green banner reading "WG2: Image & Data Analysis Webinar". Introductory text explains that the webinar offers an introduction to AI for image processing for action members. A shaded date bar reads "Friday, August 7th – 2:00 PM (CEST) | Duration: ~1h30". Under "WEBINAR PROGRAM", two white cards list the talks: "From Pixels to Patterns: Image Analysis Essentials in the World of AI" by Tereza Belinova (Imaging and Optics Facility, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, ISTA), and "AI4Life Highlights" by Beatriz Serrano-Solano (Euro-BioImaging ERIC Bio-Hub, EMBL Heidelberg). A pale yellow box notes that attendance is reserved for COST Action members, with the registration link to follow via COST channels, and that the session will be recorded for members. A final green-bordered box invites those not yet part of the PlantWallK network to join at www.plantwallk.org/#join.
July 17, 2026 at 1:12 PM
plantwallk.org
🌿 A slice of the PlantWallK delegation at #CellWall2026 in Porto! If you want to know more about COST Action and how to get involved, come find us, we are happy to chat! 😊 #PlantWallK #COST
Four PlantWallK COST Action members posing in front of the XVII Plant Cell Wall Meeting welcome banner at Fundação Cupertino de Miranda, Porto.
June 18, 2026 at 1:04 PM
plantwallk.org
🌿 Great talk today at #CellWall2026 by Daniele Coculo, exploring how cell wall remodelling shapes resistance to Xylella fastidiosa in olive. Proud to have supported his participation through a PlantWallK YRI Conference Grant! #PlantWallK #COST
Daniele Coculo presenting at the XVII Plant Cell Wall Meeting in Porto. The acknowledgements slide is projected on screen, showing collaborators from Sapienza University of Rome, IPSP-CNR Bari, and Universidad de Málaga, along with funding logos including PlantWallK COST Action
June 18, 2026 at 9:20 AM
plantwallk.org
Sharing a relevant opportunity to our network 🌱 The 2026 Plant Computational Biology Workshop (10th ed.), 7–11 Sept at ENS Lyon, covers biophysics, maths, AI applied to plant development, incl. cell walls. Free, registration required. pcbw.inria.fr/registration/
#PlantBiology #PlantWallK
Registration – Plant Computational Biology Workshop (Lyon editions)
pcbw.inria.fr
June 12, 2026 at 8:37 AM
plantwallk.org
Check out the activities of the members of our #COSTAction #PlantWallK during the Fascination of Plants Day!
lpcbb-cytoskeleton.bsky.social Schwarzerova lab @lpcbb-cytoskeleton.bsky.social · Jun 1
Our contribution to Fascination of Plants Day #PlantsDay2026 at at the Botanical Garden of the Faculty of Science in Prague, highlighting the importance of cell wall components: cellulose and pectin. We offered plentiful of cellulose to observe and pectins to taste.
our stand at the botanical garden with posters about cellulose and pectins, their structure and functions, lens to observe the fibers structure, candies and jam to taste fruit and pectins :)
June 4, 2026 at 4:11 PM