Integration of Light and Auxin Signaling in Shade Plants: From Mechanisms to Opportunities in Urban Agriculture

With intensification of urbanization throughout the world, food security is being threatened by the population surge, frequent occurrence of extreme climate events, limited area of available cultivated land, insufficient utilization of urban space, and other factors. Determining the means by which high-yielding and high-quality crops can be produced in a limited space is an urgent priority for plant scientists. Dense planting, vertical production, and indoor cultivation are effective ways to make full use of space and improve the crop yield. The results of physiological and molecular analyses of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that the plant response to shade is the key to regulating the plant response to changes in light intensity and quality by integrating light and auxin signals. In this study, we have summarized the major molecular mechanisms of shade avoidance and shade tolerance in plants. In addition, the biotechnological strategies of enhancing plant shade tolerance are discussed. More importantly, cultivating crop varieties with strong shade tolerance could provide effective strategies for dense planting, vertical production, and indoor cultivation in urban agriculture in the future.

Automated summary

With urbanization intensifying globally, the security of food supply is threatened by population growth, frequent extreme climate events, limited agricultural land, insufficient use of urban space, and other factors. Plant scientists urgently need to find ways to produce high-yielding and high-quality crops in limited space. Dense planting, vertical production, and indoor cultivation are effective methods to optimize space utilization and increase crop yield. This study focuses on the molecular mechanisms of shade avoidance and tolerance in plants, and discusses biotechnological strategies to enhance shade tolerance. Developing crop varieties with strong shade tolerance could provide effective strategies for urban agriculture in the future.