The yin and yang of cell wall integrity control: brassinosteroid and FERONIA signaling

Understanding how developmental and environmental signals control plant cell expansion requires an intimate knowledge of the architecture of the primary cell wall and the chemo-rheological processes that underlie cell wall relaxation. In this review I discuss recent findings that reveal a more prominent role than previously suspected for covalent bonds and pectin cross-links in primary cell wall architecture. In addition, genetic studies have uncovered a role for receptor kinases in the control of cell wall homeostasis in growing cells. The emerging view is that, upon cell wall disruption, compensatory changes are induced in the cell wall through the interplay between the brassinosteroid signaling module, which positively regulates wall extensibility and receptor kinases of the CrRLKL1 family, which may act as negative regulators of cell wall stiffness. These findings lift the tip of the veil of a complex signaling network allowing normal homeostasis in walls of growing cells but also crisis management under stress conditions.