Shade tolerance: when growing tall is not an option

Two different plant strategies exist to deal with shade: shade avoidance and shade tolerance. All shade-exposed plants optimize photosynthesis to adapt to the decrease in light quality and quantity. When shaded, most species in open habitats express the shade-avoidance syndrome, a growth response to escape shade. Shade-tolerant species from forest understories cannot outgrow surrounding trees and adopt a tolerance response. Unlike shade avoidance, virtually nothing is known about regulation of shade tolerance. In this opinion article, we discuss potential modes of molecular regulation to adopt a shade-tolerance rather than a shade-avoidance strategy. We argue that molecular approaches using model and non-model species should help identify the molecular pathways that underpin shade tolerance, thus providing knowledge for further crop improvement.