Mechanosensing in Plants: Regulatory Networks Driving Development and Environmental Response

Mechanical signaling and mechanotransduction are dynamic fields within plant biology that explore how plants sense and respond to mechanical forces. Plants experience a multitude of mechanical stimuli arising from both their internal growth processes and their ever-changing external environment, including tension from cell expansion, compression and shear during development, and resistance imposed by soil and wind. In recent years, substantial insight has been gained into the molecular identity and function of mechanosensitive ion channels, roles for calcium and reactive oxygen species as second messengers, and the protein players involved in cell wall integrity and its signaling pathways. Advanced imaging and biophysical methods have allowed researchers to visualize and quantify how mechanical cues shape plant architecture and physiology at multiple biological scales. However, despite these advances, the field remains fragmented, with mechanosensing research spanning multiple disciplines—ranging from developmental biology to biomechanics—without an integrated perspective. There is an urgent need to synthesize this knowledge to better understand how mechanical signals are translated into coordinated plant responses, and to reveal how these networks interact with classical hormonal and transcriptional pathways.This Research Topic aims to provide a unified platform for investigating how plants perceive, interpret, and integrate mechanical cues into their developmental and physiological processes. Key objectives include identifying primary mechanosensors, elucidating early signaling events, and mapping downstream regulatory networks. The focus is on bridging molecular events with cellular and tissue-level responses and understanding how mechanical information shapes growth patterns, organ development, and adaptation to environmental stress. Furthermore, the topic seeks to highlight emerging methodologies that allow unprecedented quantitative and computational exploration of mechanobiology in plants, and to identify future research priorities and conceptual challenges.The Research Topic encompasses studies spanning molecular to whole-plant scales but does not extend to purely abiotic physical phenomena unrelated to biological mechanosensitivity or those exclusively centered on animal systems. To gather further insights into plant mechanosensing and mechanotransduction, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Mechanosensitive ion channels and membrane-associated sensors• Cell wall integrity detection and receptor-like kinases• Signaling via calcium, ROS, and electrical pathways triggered by mechanical cues• Cytoskeletal and cell wall dynamics at the cellular and subcellular levels• Mechanochemical feedback at the plasma membrane–cell wall interface• Mechanical stress regulation in organogenesis and meristem activity• Mechanosensitive growth responses in roots, pollen tubes, and vascular tissues• Interactions between mechanical cues and hormonal or transcriptional networks• Quantitative biophysical measurements and advanced live-cell force mapping• Computational and multi-scale modeling of plant mechanobiologyWe encourage submissions of original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and methodological papers that advance understanding of how mechanical information shapes plant growth, development, and physiological regulation. Topic editors: LUCIANA RENNA, Lucia Gardini, Boris Martinac Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79410/mechanosensing-in-plants-regulatory-networks-driving-development-and-environmental-response