COST Action PlantWallK

🌱 13 participants from 8 countries joined our training school, “Analysis of Plant Cell Walls: Fingerprinting and Monosaccharide Composition”, in Versailles, France (21–22 September). 2 days of theory, hands-on lab work and scientific exchange. Thank you to everyone involved! #PlantScience

🌱 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

🌱 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

🧱 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

🔬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

👀 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

🔬 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

🌱 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

⏰ 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

🔬 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.

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

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?

💡 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

📅 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

📢 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

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

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

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?

🔬 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

📢 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 🧵👇

Proud to support our young scientists in the #PlantWallK network!!

🌿 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

🌿 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

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

Check out the activities of the members of our #COSTAction #PlantWallK during the Fascination of Plants Day!

Excellent opportunity! With the additional perk of being very close to the PlantWallK leadership :)

A great way to close the #PlantWallK26 days in Prague! The EPCC satellite meeting wrapped up yesterday with a full day of scientific presentations and stimulating discussions on plant cytoskeleton. Many thanks to all contributors and participants, it was a pleasure to see the community in action.

The 1st #PlantWallK meeting brought together 80+ researchers. Cell biologists, physicists, biochemists, modellers, all converging on 1 structure: the plant cell wall. Two days of talks, posters, and cross-disciplinary debate later, the collaborations are set. The work begins! #PlantBiology #CellWall