Cell morphogenesis and the arrangement of diverse cell shapes form the foundation for building a multicellular organism. In plants, cells are surrounded by a rigid cell wall that extends in a highly controlled manner to constrain the cells internal turgor pressure and define cell shape. Despite the importance of the cell wall for plant physiology, a major challenge remains to characterize the fundamental organization of all key wall components and determine how their biosynthesis and structure-function relationship are regulated. This special topics feature in Frontiers in Plant Physiology encompasses the ongoing research effort to meet this challenge. A series of perspective papers highlight the increasingly wide range of disciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, organisms and cell types that are being employed to decode cell wall biosynthesis. This special feature welcomes outstanding contributions addressing fundamental questions in cell wall biology.
Cell morphogenesis and the arrangement of diverse cell shapes form the foundation for building a multicellular organism. In plants, cells are surrounded by a rigid cell wall that extends in a highly controlled manner to constrain the cells internal turgor pressure and define cell shape. Despite the importance of the cell wall for plant physiology, a major challenge remains to characterize the fundamental organization of all key wall components and determine how their biosynthesis and structure-function relationship are regulated. This special topics feature in Frontiers in Plant Physiology encompasses the ongoing research effort to meet this challenge. A series of perspective papers highlight the increasingly wide range of disciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, organisms and cell types that are being employed to decode cell wall biosynthesis. This special feature welcomes outstanding contributions addressing fundamental questions in cell wall biology.