Cell Wall as a Key Determinant of Maize Stalk Lodging Resistance

Maize lodging is a major constraint on grain yield, biomass production, silage quality, and mechanical harvesting efficiency. It arises from interactions among environmental conditions, crop management and plant-dependent traits. In maize, stalk lodging commonly results from failure of lower internodes, where bending forces, senescence, and structural weakness converge. Although lodging resistance has traditionally been associated with traits such as plant architecture and stalk anatomy, cell wall properties are increasingly recognized as important determinants of stalk mechanical strength. Maize stalk biomass consists largely of lignified secondary cell walls composed mainly of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, with smaller proportions of pectins and proteins. Together, these components form an integrated mechanical network that provides tensile strength, stiffness, compression resistance, and cross-linking between cell wall domains. This review summarizes the effects of lodging on maize production, describes maize cell wall composition and architecture, and examines the contribution of cell wall traits to stalk lodging resistance. Available evidence indicates that bulk polymer contents alone do not consistently explain resistance, highlighting the importance of lignin composition, polymer organization, hydroxycinnamate-mediated interactions, and tissue-specific cell wall deposition. Integrating cell wall biology with biomechanics, environmental responses, genomics, and breeding may improve lodging resistance while accounting for potential trade-offs with biomass utilization and stress adaptation.