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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

  1. Seasonal drought has hindered the sustainable growth of the Camellia oil tree industry. While brassinolide (BL) can mitigate drought stress in plants to some extent, the regulatory mechanisms underlying BL’s e...

    Authors: Kaizheng Lu, Yiyang Gu, YiXin Du, Yaxuan Yao, Xiaofeng Tan, Lichao Wu, Junqin Zhou and Jun Yuan
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:625
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Abscisic acid (ABA) regulates key plant processes, including seed germination, dormancy, and abiotic stress responses. While its physiological role in germination is well-documented, the molecular mechanisms a...

    Authors: Ewa Sybilska, Bahareh Sadat Haddadi, Luis A. J. Mur, Manfred Beckmann, Szymon Hryhorowicz, Joanna Suszynska-Zajczyk, Monika Knaur, Andrzej Pławski and Agata Daszkowska-Golec
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:619
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. The ERF transcription factor can regulate the biosynthesis of various secondary metabolites, including triterpenoid saponins, in plants. DaERF9 has been found to be a potential regulatory factor in the accumulati...

    Authors: Huanhuan Yang, Jiao Xu, Chunyun Xu, Guang Zhou, Tao Zhou and Chenghong Xiao
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:612
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. black seed (Nigella sativa L.) has long been utilized in traditional medicine and as a food ingredient due to its potential therapeutic properties including its effectiveness against cancer, coronaviruses, and ba...

    Authors: Ali Sobhannizadeh, Mousa Torabi Giglou, Mahdi Behnamian, Asghar Estaji, Mohammad Majdi and Antoni Szumny
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:539
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Salinity stress significantly threatens seed germination, plant growth, and agricultural productivity, necessitating effective mitigation strategies. This study evaluates the potential of salicylic acid (SA) p...

    Authors: Mohammad Reza Karimi, Manijeh Sabokdast, Hamid Korang Beheshti, Ali Reza Abbasi and Mohammad Reza Bihamta
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:489
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. High-temperature stress severely limits the growth, development, yield, and quality of garlic (Allium sativum L.), but the role of hormone signaling in its heat stress response remains unclear. This study examine...

    Authors: Qing-qing Yang, Ji-De Fan, Can-yu Liu, Yong-qiang Zhao, Zhi-sheng Xu, Xin-juan Lu, Jie Ge, Bi-wei Zhang, Meng-qian Li, Yan Yang and Feng Yang
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:464
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that mediates plant responses to drought stress by regulating stomatal conductance, gene expression, and photosynthetic efficiency. Although ABA-induced stress priming has...

    Authors: Anna Collin, Hubert Matkowski, Ewa Sybilska, Asmarany Biantari, Oliwia Król and Agata Daszkowska-Golec
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:445
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Arabidopsis senses ethylene through a five-member family of ethylene receptors, of which the ethylene receptor ETR1 plays the major role. We examined how changes in ethylene binding affinity of ETR1 can regula...

    Authors: Sitwat Aman, Swadhin Swain, Esha Dutta, Safdar Abbas, Ning Li, Samina N. Shakeel, Brad M. Binder and G. Eric Schaller
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:436
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. The indiscriminate use of pesticides compromises physiology and metabolism in crops, posing health risks through residue accumulation in edible tissues. Amaranthus hybridus L., a fast growing, nutritionally and m...

    Authors: Arun Kumar, Pradeep Kumar Yadav and Anita Singh
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:137
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. An efficient in vitro propagation protocol has been established for a valuable medicinal plant, Salix tetrasperma using mature nodal explants. The investigation aimed to observe the influence of various combinati...

    Authors: Zubair Altaf Reshi, Fohad Mabood Husain, Mehrun Nisha Khanam and Saad Bin Javed
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:121
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Low temperatures disrupt nitrogen metabolism in tobacco, resulting in lower nicotine content in the leaves. 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) is a widely used plant growth regulator known for its roles in enhancing col...

    Authors: Haiyang Chen, Shuaitao Zhang, Jianbo Chang, Hongru Wei, Hongchen Li, Chaoyang Li, Junjie Yang, Zhengxiong Song, Zhaojun Wang, Jin Lun, Xuelin Zhang, Lihua Li and Xiaoquan Zhang
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:77
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. Flowering is a complex, finely regulated process involving multiple phytohormones and transcription factors. However, flowering regulation in pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) remains largely unexamined. This study ...

    Authors: Kamran Shah, Xiaoyue Zhu, Tiantian Zhang, Jiayi Chen, Jiaxuan Chen and Yonghua Qin
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:47
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Water deficits, exacerbated by climate change and unpredictable weather, have become a significant global challenge to agricultural productivity. In this context, exogenous melatonin treatment is well document...

    Authors: Tahoora Batool Zargar, Mawia Sobh, Oqba Basal and Szilvia Veres
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2025 25:29
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. PLATZ (plant A/T-rich protein and zinc-binding protein) transcription factors are essential for plant growth, development, and responses to abiotic stress. The regulatory role of PLATZ genes in the environmental ...

    Authors: Fangli Gu, Yanshuang Ren, Muhammad Aamir Manzoor, Tingting Wang, Renshu Huang, Naifu Chen, Cheng Song and Yingyu Zhang
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2024 24:1276
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Adventitious root (AR) formation is the key step for successful cutting propagation of tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.). Studies showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) can promote the rooting ability, a...

    Authors: Weili Chen, Tingting Niu, Wenxu Lian, Tao Ye, Qinyu Sun and Jiaxia Zhang
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2024 24:1266
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. P. yunnanensis, a distinctive economic tree species native to Yunnan Province in China, possesses axillary buds that serve as superior material for asexual propagation. However, under natural growth conditions, t...

    Authors: Haihao He, Junfei Xu, Nianhui Cai and Yulan Xu
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2024 24:1219
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Owing to its high perishability, the market life of nectarine fruit is very short. Cold storage is a principal approach to limit post-harvest quality loss in nectarines. The objective of this research was to e...

    Authors: Fatih Sen, Enes Yilmaz and Burhan Ozturk
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2024 24:1205
    Content type: Research Published on:

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.