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While it is well known that plants lean towards the sun in order to absorb sunlight, an interesting study finds that they also "see".

In a study assessing the quality of the shade they are in, according to scienceworldreport.Scientists find that plants have light sensors which might trigger off an internal alarm when they get threatened by other plants. The plant sensors are able to locate the depletion of red and blue light that can differentiate between "an aggressive nearby plant from a passing cloud".

Hence, plants can actually judge the quality of shade, which might help them to outgrow "menacing neighbors". The finding is interesting and important to improve crop productivity.

Scientists studied cryptochromes, which are blue light-sensitive sensors that can distinguish between telling a plant "when to grow and when to flower". These sensors were located first in plants and later in animals, and were associated with circadian rhythm in both.

While the protein's role in locating the depletion of blue light is well-known, this study is the first to help us understand how cryptochromes can promote growth "in a shaded environment".

"We found that cryptochromes contact these transcription factors on DNA, activating genes completely different than what other photoreceptors activate," said Ullas Pedmale, first author of the new study, in a news release. "This is also a very short pathway so plants can rapidly respond to their light environment."

Hence, how the plants sense light, and how much productivity can be increased in the shade was revealed.

The findings are published in Cell.