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Call for papers - The role of phytohormones in plant growth and development

Guest Editors

Chirag Maheshwari, PhD, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, India
Anayat Rasool Mir, PhD, Aligarh Muslim University, India
Tingting Zhu, PhD, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 30 May 2025

BMC Plant Biology launches the collection, The role of phytohormones in plant growth and development. This collection seeks to gather research on plant hormones and their role in regulating plant growth and development. We invite researchers and experts in the field to submit research articles on phytohormone regulation of plant physiology, growth and development, and stress responses, as well as the metabolism, transport and signaling of phytohormones.


New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Meet the Guest Editors

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Chirag Maheshwari, PhD, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, India

Dr Maheshwari serves as a scientist at the Division of Biochemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute located in New Delhi (India). His current research focuses on the physiological and molecular mechanisms that govern abiotic stress in plants, as well as the analysis of crop nutritional profiles under stress conditions. Dr Maheshwari has published around 20 research and review articles in peer-reviewed international journals and has contributed to over ten book chapters. His achievements have been recognized with several awards, including the Young Scientist Award from the Society for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (SPBB) and the Best Poster Award, among others.

Anayat Rasool Mir, PhD, Aligarh Muslim University, India

Dr Anayat Rasool Mir holds a PhD in Botany from Aligarh Muslim University (India), where he focused on the responses of Brassica juncea to phytohormones under copper stress. He also earned an MPhil from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University, studying the effects of heavy metals and nutrients on pigeon pea. Dr Mir has published numerous articles in prestigious journals, exploring plant physiology, stress tolerance mechanisms, and remediation strategies for heavy metals. His research emphasizes the role of indolic plant hormones in enhancing plant resilience and productivity. He has presented his work at international conferences and webinars, making significant contributions to the fields of plant science and biotechnology.

Tingting Zhu, PhD, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium

Dr Tingting Zhu is a postdoctoral researcher at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology (Belgium). Her research focuses on the impact of climate change on crop productivity, particularly how small increases in average temperatures can lead to significant decreases in crop yield. She investigates high-temperature-mediated signaling events in Arabidopsis and crops such as wheat and soybean using phosphoproteomics. Specifically, Dr Zhu explores the mechanisms by which high-temperature-induced phosphorylation modulates jasmonate signaling and plant responses through molecular, biochemical, physiological, and genetic analyses. In addition, her research in wheat involves using phospho-proteomics to study the effects of high temperatures on reproductive growth and development, followed by functional validation under these conditions.

About the Collection

Plant hormones play a crucial role in regulating various aspects of plant growth and development. Given the complexity of phytohormone signaling pathways and crosstalk, and the diversity of signaling molecules so far reported, our understanding of how phytohormones regulate plant growth and developmental processes remains partial. Ongoing research is expected to reveal new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the action of plant hormones, including the identification of novel signaling pathways, regulatory networks, and hormone-mediated responses to environmental stimuli. Apart from their fundamental research relevance, advances in the field of plant hormone research can pave the way for innovative biotechnological applications aimed at manipulating plant hormone pathways, enhancing crop productivity, improving stress tolerance and plant immunity, and promoting sustainability in agriculture.

In support of United Nations’ SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), BMC Plant Biology launches the collection, The role of phytohormones in plant growth and development. This collection seeks to gather research on plant hormones and their role in regulating plant growth and development. We invite researchers and experts in the field to submit research articles that explore, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • The role of phytohormones in regulating plant physiology, growth and development
  • Metabolism, transport and signaling of phytohormones, and their underlying mechanisms: effects on plant growth and development
  • Cross-talk between phytohormones and the influence of signaling pathways on plant growth and development
  • The role of phytohormones in cell proliferation, elongation and differentiation
  • The role and regulation of plant hormones in seed germination and flowering
  • The role of plant hormones in fruit development and ripening
  • The role of plant hormones in biotic and abiotic stress responses
  • Phytohormone-mediated regulation of plant immune responses and defense mechanisms
  • The interplay between phytohormones and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling in plants
  • The impact of phytohormones on the accumulation of valuable phytocompounds and secondary metabolites in plants
  • Plant senescence and the role of hormonal control in the aging of plants
  • The impact of plant hormones on plant rhizosphere


Image credit: © chokniti / Stock.adobe.com

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "The role of phytohormones in plant growth and development" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.