The in vitro antioxidant activity and inhibition of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) of the total and individual phenolic compounds from Yuzi No. 7 sweet potato leaves were investigated in this study. Sweet potato leaf polyphenols possessed significantly higher antioxidant activity than ascorbic acid, tea polyphenols, and grape seed polyphenols. Among the individual phenolic compounds, caffeic acid showed the highest antioxidant activity, followed by monocaffeoylquinic acids and dicaffeoylquinic acids, while 3,4,5-tri-O-caffeoylquinic acid showed the lowest value. Sweet potato leaf polyphenols could significantly decrease the level of intracellular ROS in a dose-dependent manner. The order of the inhibiting effect of individual phenolic compounds on the intracellular ROS level was not in accordance with that of antioxidant activity, suggesting that there was no direct relationship between antioxidant activity and intracellular ROS-inhibiting effect. Sweet potato leaves could be a good source of biologically active polyphenols with multiple applications in the development of foods, health products, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

Chloroplast stromal factors involved in regulating thylakoid protein targeting are poorly understood. We previously reported that in Arabidopsis thaliana, the stromal localized chaperone HSP90C interacted with the nuclear-encoded thylakoid lumen protein PsbO1 and suggested a role for HSP90C in aiding PsbO1 thylakoid targeting. Using in organello transport assays, particularly with model substrates naturally expressed in stroma, in this study we showed that light or exogenous ATP, and HSP90C activity were required for Sec-dependent transport of GFP led by PsbO1 thylakoid targeting sequence. Using a previously identified PsbO1T200A mutant, we provided evidence that a stronger interaction between HSP90C and PsbO1 better facilitated its stroma-thylakoid trafficking. We also showed that SecY1, the channel protein of the thylakoid SEC translocase, specifically interacted with HSP90C in vivo. Inhibition of the chaperone ATPase activity suppressed the association of PsbO1GFP-HSP90C complex to SecY1. Together with analyzing the expression and accumulation of a few other thylakoid proteins that utilize the SRP, TAT or SEC translocation pathways, we propose a model in which HSP90C forms a guiding complex that interacts with thylakoid protein precursors and assists in their specific targeting to the thylakoid SEC translocon.

The Arabidopsis endoplasmic reticulum localized heat shock protein HSP90.7 modulates tissue differentiation and stress responses; however, complete knockout lines have not been previously reported. In this study, we identified and analyzed a mutant allele, hsp90.7-1, which did not express any protein and showed seedling lethality. Microscopic analyses revealed its essential role in male and female fertility, trichomes and root hairs development, proper chloroplast function, and in apical meristem maintenance and differentiation. Comparative transcriptome and proteome analyses also revealed a role of the protein in a multitude of cellular processes. Particularly, the auxin responsive pathway was specifically down-regulated in the hsp90.7-1 mutant seedlings. We measured a much-reduced auxin content in both root and shoot tissues. Through comprehensive histological and molecular analyses, we demonstrated PIN1 and PIN5 expressions were dramatically reduced in the mutant, and the TAA-YUCCA primary auxin biosynthesis pathway was also down-regulated, thus revealing a critical new role of HSP90.7 in the regulation of auxin responses. This study therefore not only fulfilled a gap in understanding the essential role of HSP90 paralogs in eukaryotes, but also provided a mechanistic insight on this molecular chaperone in regulating plant growth and development via modulating cellular auxin homeostasis.