PlantWallK brings together researchers from biology, imaging, chemistry, biophysics, computation and modelling to overcome fragmented knowledge and methods.
Upcoming
WG2 Image & Data Analysis Webinar
PlantWallK is pleased to announce a WG2 webinar introducing
AI for image processing to Action members.
Plant cell walls are essential for plant development and survival, providing plants with numerous key functions. Beyond their biological role, cell walls represent a major carbon sink and a key renewable resource for food, feed, materials, and bioenergy. Although our understanding of this complex and dynamic system has greatly advanced, important knowledge gaps remain. The Action brings together researchers from biology, imaging, chemistry, biophysics, computation and modelling to overcome fragmented knowledge and methods. Multidisciplinary cooperation of PlantWallK aims to improve how we visualise, analyse and simulate cell walls, build shared data and knowledge infrastructure, and create a common language for this community.
02 Goals
Objectives
The objectives focus on strengthening coordination and capacity in cell wall research by integrating methodologies, instrumentation, and data analysis across disciplines, while identifying and addressing gaps in existing tools, probes, and protocols. This includes developing standardized frameworks, validated molecular recognition tools, advanced detection and data-processing methods—particularly leveraging deep learning—and establishing best practices for data infrastructure, sharing, and model development. In parallel, the goals emphasize building a robust European research ecosystem through shared infrastructures, validated methodologies, interdisciplinary expert networks, and sustained training efforts, with particular support for early-career researchers via collaborative opportunities, workshops, and increased visibility within the scientific community.
Mission
PlantWallK is dedicated to overcoming fragmented expertise by weaving together methods, image analysis, and multiscale modelling into a coordinated European network focused on plant cell walls.
Scope
The project focuses on the development of novel molecular recognition tools and on the expansion, refinement, and standardization of image analysis techniques, with particular emphasis on deep learning–based approaches. It also includes the integration and analysis of multiscale data.
Instruments
Meetings, STSMs, training schools, workshops, and shared protocols support the adoption of state-of-the-art tools and the development of long-term collaborations within the community.
Working Groups
PlantWallK is organized into three interlinked Working Groups.
Leader: Aline Voxeur
The working group focuses on advancing methodologies for analyzing the mechanical and biochemical properties of plant cell walls. It promotes the development, evaluation, and integration of innovative techniques through interdisciplinary collaboration, including conferences, workshops, training activities, and short-term scientific missions. As a central pillar of the Action, its progress underpins the effectiveness and impact of all other working groups.
Main tasks
Create a comprehensive, standardized inventory of existing methods for mechanical and biochemical cell wall analysis, including imaging, analytical techniques, and molecular recognition tools, with emphasis on quantitative, reproducible approaches applicable to plant and crop materials.
Identify methodological gaps and introduce novel approaches, particularly in situ and in vivo measurement techniques, by transferring suitable methods from other research fields such as biomedical and material sciences.
Establish a sustainable framework for developing and validating new tools, including imaging strategies and molecular probes, supported by coordinated STSMs, joint grant applications, open data repositories, and hands-on training to enable long-term adoption by the scientific community.
Monitor, document, and disseminate progress in method development by compiling validated and emerging techniques into an openly accessible, continuously updated database hosted on the Action website, thereby supporting future experimental practice and broad community uptake.
Aline Voxeur · WG1 Leader
Cell wall analysis methods and probes
Leader: Stéphane Verger
The working group focuses on the development and dissemination of advanced image and data analysis methodologies for plant cell wall research, with a strong emphasis on deep learning–based approaches. It promotes the adoption of these methods through interdisciplinary collaboration, inventories of existing tools, workshops, and coordinated engagement with analysis specialists and research infrastructures. In parallel, it aims to build long-term expertise by training and integrating early-career researchers in modern computational analysis strategies.
Main tasks
Map and consolidate existing image and data analysis approaches used in plant cell wall research by organizing an interdisciplinary conference involving tool developers, deep learning specialists, research infrastructures, and industry stakeholders.
Identify analytical gaps and implement novel computational strategies by coordinating collaborations with mathematicians, data scientists, and image analysis experts, and translating these strategies into targeted, community-oriented workshops.
Stéphane Verger · WG2 Leader
Advanced image and data analysis
Zoom into the feature map (1× → 50×)
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Leaders: Dorota Kwiatkowska, Grégory Mouille
Working Group 3 focuses on advancing multiscale, data-driven modeling in plant cell wall research through strong interdisciplinary collaboration. It brings together expertise from biology, biochemistry, physics, mathematics, and computational sciences to address challenges related to complex multimodal datasets. Through coordinated discussions, conferences, training activities, and joint grant development, WG3 aims to establish a sustainable interdisciplinary community with long-term impact beyond the Action.
Main tasks
Facilitate effective dialogue between experimental and modeling communities by presenting complex multiscale imaging data to mathematicians and computer scientists and jointly identifying modeling solutions relevant to plant cell wall research.
Strengthen integration between biologists and modeling experts through a structured STSM program that promotes knowledge exchange and the development of new multiscale modeling modules.
Address infrastructural challenges related to big data handling, including computational capacity and large-scale data storage, by defining strategic solutions in collaboration with European research infrastructures such as EOSC and Euro-Bioimaging.
Build long-term modeling competence through education and training, by developing an interactive interdisciplinary course for undergraduate and graduate students focused on multiscale data evaluation and big data analysis in cell wall research.
Dorota Kwiatkowska & Grégory Mouille
Interdisciplinary approach for multiscale modeling
The PlantWallK website is now live. Welcome! Initial information about the Action, Working Groups, leadership, grants and events will be updated continuously.
Grants
PlantWallk offers grants to support mobility, collaboration, and career development across the network. We fund both research exchanges and conference participation through Mobility Grants and Conference Grants.
Applications are submitted via e-COST. Applicants need an e-COST profile (you can create one during the process). Before applying, applicants should read the Annotated Rules for COST Actions.
The PlantWallK Grant Awarding Process document describes the application steps, evaluation criteria, and the documents grantees must submit to receive the grant.
Submit workshop proposals. Accepted offers will be used to compile a workshop schedule.
Purpose Collect workshop offers each year for any year of the Action.
Eligibility Open to Action participants and partner organisers aligned with Action aims.
What to submit Use the secure form. You will receive an email verification link before the proposal is forwarded to PlantWallK.
Events
Applications open
Beyond Intensity: FLIM for Plant Cell Wall Imaging
Training School · 15–16 September 2026
Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences – Imaging Facility
Rozvojová 263, Prague 6, Czech Republic
Building B1, ground floor – Imaging Facility & Lecture Room
This training school introduces the principles and practical application of Fluorescence
Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) microscopy in plant cell wall research, combining a theoretical
lecture with two parallel hands-on sessions.
Programme
Day 1
FLIM theory lecture
Hands-on A: CarboTag-BDP cell wall staining, FLIM microscopy,
analysis and presentation across Arabidopsis, moss and BY-2 suspension cells
using an Abberior Mirava Polyscope
Hands-on B: PlantWallK inventory strategy and building
Advancing Plant Cell Wall Knowledge
Introduction to AI for image processing for PlantWallK Action members.
📅 Friday, August 7th
🕑 2:00 PM CEST
Duration: ~1h30
Webinar programme
“From Pixels to Patterns: Image Analysis Essentials in the World of AI”
Tereza Belinova Imaging and Optics Facility, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
“AI4Life Highlights”
Beatriz Serrano-Solano Euro-BioImaging ERIC Bio-Hub, EMBL Heidelberg
Registration information
Attendance is reserved for members of the COST Action. The official registration link will be provided through COST channels. The event will also be recorded and made accessible to members of the Action.
Fingerprinting and Monosaccharide Composition
Institute Jean-Pierre Bourgin for Plant Sciences (IJPB), INRAE Versailles, France
21–22 September 2026
This Training School will introduce participants to enzymatic fingerprinting and monosaccharide analysis methods for the structural characterization of plant cell wall polysaccharides using LC-MS and GC-MS approaches.
Application deadline: 12 July 2026
Notification of selection results: 29 July 2026
Participants may bring their own samples for analysis during the practical sessions, after prior discussion with the organizers.
Browse completed PlantWallK activities, event materials and photographic highlights.
Upcoming events with closed applications remain listed above until they have taken place.
Conference ended
First PlantWallK meeting
Hybrid meeting Prague, 25-26 May
Venue: Vinicna 7, lecture hall B3, first floor, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2026(Closed)
Funding is available through the COST Action budget. Please note that only registered participants of COST Action CA24116 - PlantWallK are eligible for financial support.
Due to the limited budget, participants who will receive travel reimbursement will be selected by the organizing committee based on submitted abstracts. The primary evaluation criterion will be the contribution of the presentation to the objectives of the Action, as defined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The expected number of reimbursed participants is approximately 40 or more, depending on available funds, until the budget is fully allocated.
Participants selected for reimbursement will receive an official invitation via the e-COST system before the meeting, including detailed instructions. Travel reimbursement must be claimed afterwards through e-COST.
Venue: Vinicna 7, lecture hall B3, first floor, Prague 2, Czech Republic. Prague, 26-27 May
Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2026(Registration is now closed)
European Plant Cytoskeletal Club (EPCC) 2026 is organized as a satellite meeting of the first gathering of members of COST Action CA24116 — the First PlantWallK Meeting. This organizational format reflects the expected overlap of participants, resulting from the functional connection between the plant cytoskeleton and the cell wall.
EPCC 2026 is free of charge. Please note that EPCC 2026 is not directly funded by the COST Action PlantWallK. Therefore, participants of EPCC 2026 are not eligible for reimbursement from the COST budget.
Consequently, members of COST Action PlantWallK who attend the First PlantWallK Meeting (May 25–26) and qualify for reimbursement, and who also wish to participate in EPCC 2026 (May 27), will be reimbursed only for expenses related to the COST meeting.
For participants interested in EPCC 2026 who are not members of COST Action PlantWallK, we also offer a free opportunity to attend the second day of the COST meeting (May 26, 2026). This day is provisionally planned to include lectures focused on interactions between the cytoplasm, the plasma membrane, and the cell wall. More detailed organizational information will be published at the end of April.
Registration for this satellite meeting is completely closed. If you wish to attend, please inquire directly via email to the organizers.
We gratefully acknowledge Edita Tylova, Petra Cifrova and Jan Martinek for the microscopy images. Laura Bacete, Kateřina Schwarzerová and Jozef Mravec for the logo conception and design.
