Plant Cell Walls

Dr. Geitmann investigates the role of the cell wall in plant reproduction and development. Her research focuses on the cellular processes that lead to the formation of plant organs and functional tissues. She holds the Canada Research Chair in Biomechanics of Plant Development and leads an interdisciplinary team of biologists and engineers. Dr. Geitmann's research combines cell biology with engineering methodology and mathematical concepts to reveal how the cell wall deforms during cell growth and to detect the forces involved. Her team has developed sophisticated experimental and computational tools enabling researchers to study questions such as how the pollen tube delivers the sperm cells during reproduction in plants and how plant cells change shape to generate tissues with various functionalities. Dr. Geitmann is the editor of the books 'Pollen and Pollen Tube Biology' (2020), 'Plant Biomechanics - From Structure to Function at Multiple Scales' (2018), 'Cell Biology of Plant and Fungal Tip Growth' (2001). She published 100+ journal articles and book chapters, and she has supervised more than 100 trainees. She has organised numerous international conferences and workshops including a NATO Workshop on 'Tip Growth', joint meetings between the American and Canadian Societies of Plant Biology, the '9th International Plant Biomechanics Conference', and international workshops on 'Cell Wall Mechanics' and 'Multiscale Modeling of Cell Wall Mechanics and Growth in Walled Cells' hosted by the Banff International Research Station. She is frequently solicited to serve on the scientific advisory committees of international conferences on the plant cell wall. In 2013-2015, she served as President of the Microscopical Society of Canada and she was the President of the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists in 2015-2017. She served as the President of the International Association of Plant Reproduction Research in 2018-2022, and she is a member of the editorial and advisory boards of multiple scientific journals including Cell, Plant Physiology, and Journal of Experimental Botany. Anja Geitmann obtained her PhD in Environmental Biology in 1997 from the University of Siena (Italy), following undergraduate and graduate studies in biology at the University of Constance (Germany), Oregon State University (USA), and Stockholm University (Sweden). Between 1997 and 2001 she performed postdoctoral research at the Université Laval, Québec, and at the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands. From 2001 to 2015 she was Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences of the Université de Montréal and Scientist at the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale. She taught Plant Anatomy, Microscopy, and Scientific Communication at undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2015 Dr. Geitmann was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environment

1 - Plant cell walls – past, present, and future

2 - Plant cell wall glycosyltransferases: from sequence to structure and function

3 - Nucleotide sugars and the transporters that put them at the right place

4 - Enzymic and non-enzymic remodelling of cell-wall polysaccharides

5 - Reconsidering pectin structure – a historical perspective informed by studies of the biosynthetic enzymes

6 - Cell wall-related mechanisms underlying plant cell expansion

7 - Role of the cell wall in the regulation of fruit ripening

8 - NMR studies on cellulose and plant cell walls

9 - Adoption of evolving technologies to define cell wall biology in the grasses: A brief but unfinished history

10 - Plant cell wall glycan-directed monoclonal antibodies

11 - Conceptual models of the plant cell wall

12 - The glycomic code of the plant cell wall: How structure leads to function

13 - We all stand together: An exploration of the drivers and constraints that have shaped plant and algal cell wall diversity

14 - Hydrophobisation of cell walls by cutin, suberin and associated waxes

15 - Shapeshifters: functional interplays between plant cell walls and dynamic, reversible shape changes in plant cells and tissues

16 - The biology of arabinogalactan proteins in plant abiotic stress and reproduction

17 - Root cell walls and secretions: a role in the plant's relationship with its surrounding soil microbiome

18 - Plant cell wall integrity maintenance

19 - Cell wall signalling in plants

20 - The ancient battle between plants and pathogens: Resilience of the plant cell wall and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) drive plant immunity

21 - Cell wall polysaccharide matrix dynamics during wood development

22 - Drying out walls: How do the cell walls of resurrection plants survive desiccation?

23 - The middle lamella between anthropic and evolutionary contexts

24 - The compound middle lamella as a target for improved deconstruction of woody biomass

25 - Cytokinesis and the formation of a new cell wall