Call for papers - Advances and applications in plant cell wall research

Guest Editors

Marc Carriquí, PhD, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain
Ahmed Faik, PhD, Ohio University, USA
Allan Showalter, PhD, Ohio University, USA

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 28 November 2025

BMC Plant Biology launches the Collection Advances and applications in plant cell wall research. This collection aims to explore various aspects of plant cell wall research, including plant cell wall composition, structure and remodeling, as well as applications in biotechnology and agriculture. We invite researchers to submit research, novel techniques and applications that address challenges related to plant cell wall research and stress resilience, and the use of plant cell wall-derived biomass for renewable resources and biomaterials.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Marc Carriquí, PhD, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain

Dr Marc Carriquí is a plant ecophysiologist specializing in the relationship between plant structure and function, and their impact on productivity and stress tolerance. His research focuses on CO₂ diffusion, water transport, and physiological thresholds under environmental stress. Dr Carriquí advanced the understanding of photosynthesis and hydraulics across plant lineages, revealing optimized photosynthesis along phylogeny and the role of cell wall properties in balancing efficiency and stress tolerance. His work challenges assumptions about vascular evolution and identifies targets to enhance photosynthesis and improve climate response predictions, benefiting both plant biotechnologists and evolutionary ecologists.

Ahmed Faik, PhD, Ohio University, USA

Dr Ahmed Faik received his PhD in biology from Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I (France) and joined Ohio University in 2004. His research focuses on understanding how plants construct their cell walls, specifically the synthesis, secretion, and integration of polysaccharides using functional genomics approaches such as genomic, biochemical, and proteomic strategies. Dr Faik's laboratory investigates key aspects of cell wall biology, using Arabidopsis and wheat as model organisms.

Allan Showalter, PhD, Ohio University, USA

Dr Allan Showalter received a PhD in Biochemistry from Rutgers University (USA), focusing on chicken collagen genes and proteins. Following this, he became a post-doctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, where his focus was on plant cell wall extension genes under the guidance of Dr Joe Varner. In 1986, Dr Showalter accepted a faculty position at Ohio University, continuing and expanding research on the structure, biosynthesis, expression, and function of plant cell wall proteins.

About the Collection

Plant cell walls provide structural integrity and protective functions to plants, while largely contributing the bulk of their biomass. They are composed of bio-macromolecular assemblies made up of different classes of polysaccharides, proteoglycans, and aromatic polymers that play crucial roles in plant growth, development, morphogenesis, and responses to environmental cues.

Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and analytical and imaging techniques have significantly enhanced research on plant cell walls both at the molecular and cellular levels. Moreover, a wide range of products with increasing importance, e.g. biobased fuels, biomaterials, chemicals and paper, can be obtained from plant cell wall-derived biomass. Greater understanding of cell wall architecture, molecular composition and organization, and functions could therefore help enhancing crop resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as crop photosynthetic capacity by alleviating CO2 diffusion limitations imposed by the cell wall. Moreover, research on plant cell wall could also reveal novel applications to use plant cell wall-derived biomass as a renewable source of energy and biomaterials.

In support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), BMC Plant Biology is launching the collection ‘Advances and applications in plant cell wall research’. This collection aims to explore fundamental research on plant cell wall as well as potential applications in biotechnology and sustainable agriculture. We invite researchers and experts in the field to submit research articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Architecture, structure, composition, organization, and functions of the plant cell wall
The life and development of the plant cell wall
Regulation of cell wall formation
Plant cell wall polymer and polysaccharide biosynthesis
Plant cell wall remodeling mechanisms under biotic and abiotic stress
Enhancement of plant/crop stress resilience and photosynthesis by cell wall remodeling
Genomic and bioinformatic approaches in plant cell wall research
Synthetic biology approaches in plant cell wall research
Plant cell wall signaling
Advances in imaging plant cell wall, as well as chemical and analytical methods to study plant cell wall
Biotechnological and agricultural applications of plant cell wall-derived biomass for the production of renewable source of energy and biomaterials
Bioengineering of plant cell wall polymers and polysaccharides
CRISPR-Cas9 technology applied to plant cell wall modifications and bioengineering

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Advances and applications in plant cell wall research" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.