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Plants have a secret language that scientists are only now starting to decipher

Signals from the plant cell wall help to orchestrate growth, reproduction and immune function. Can harnessing this molecular cross talk help in creating better crops?
By
  1. Amber Dance

    1. Amber Dance is a freelance science journalist in the Los Angeles area.

Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of duckweed (Spirodela oligorrhiza) root cells, showing cell walls, centralized nuclei and numerous chloroplasts

Plant cell walls, such as in these root cells, not only act as physical containers but also contribute to important signalling processes. Credit: Biophoto Associates/SPL

When Robert Hooke gazed through his microscope at a slice of cork and coined the term ‘cell’ in 1665, he was really looking at just the walls of the dead cells. The squishy contents typically found within would become objects of ongoing study. But for many plant scientists, the walls themselves faded into the background. They were considered passive containers for the exciting biology inside.

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Nature 646, 1044-1046 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03473-y

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 12 November 2025: An earlier version of this feature gave the wrong page numbers for ref. 6.

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