Don: What's wrong with these plants, Ya?l? They've grown all long and spindly, and just  have a few small leaves!

Ya?l: Hmm. It could be SAS, Don.

D: SAS?

Y: Plants that grow tall and spindly trying to reach the sunlight are usually "suffering"   from Shade Avoidance Syndrome, or SAS. Now scientists have identified the  molecular process that controls the onset of SAS. When a plant that requires bright  sunlight detects shade from another plant, it will switch into SAS mode and try to  quickly grow taller, up into sunlight again.

D: That's a clever strategy.

Y: Yep. To figure out how SAS worked, researchers at the Salk Institute in California   searched through a large collection of mutated plant seedlings for individual plants  that didn't turn on shade responses even when in their neighbor's shadow. From  these plants, the researchers were able to identify genes involved in the shade      response. They found that one of the genes produces an enzyme that speeds up  production of a plant growth hormone called Auxin when the plant is shaded.

D: Growth hormone, eh? So that's why the plants get taller and taller when light-   depived?

Y: Right. The plants have receptors in their cells that are sensitive to light. When these   photo-receptors detect the presence of neighboring plants, it triggers the Auxin-      producing pathway, which triggers the stem to start growing rapidly.

D: I suppose growing taller diverts the plant's resources away from reproductive efforts  like making flowers, fruits and seeds.

Y: That's one reason that understanding SAS has such exciting potential. Crop breeders  and farmers could eventually use these new discoveries to maximize the yield of   grains or fruits in their fields.