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• Phenolic content and terpenes in Corchorus olirotius leaves increases as a result of selenium bioaccumulation. • Se biofortified Corchorus olirotius modulates immunoglobulin levels in serum of wistar rats. • Se biofortified Corchorus olirotius modulates antiinflammatory cytokines in serum of wistar rats. Biofortification of staple vegetables with selenium (Se) is one of the ways of increasing the concentration of Se in leafy vegetables, and hence, a major method in ameliorating low Se levels in the population. Furthermore, at low doses, plant biofortification with Se has been shown to confer beneficial status on the plants. It is however, not enough that the vegetables bioaccumulate Se, it is also important to assess the physiological and biochemical effects of such biofortified vegetables in vivo. This study therefore, aims to evaluate the effect of Se biofortification on the concentration of phytochemicals present in jute (Corchorus olitorius) leaves, as well as the effect of the dietary inclusions of the Se biofortified vegetables on anti-inflammatory cytokines and immunoglobulin levels in Wistar rats. The experiment included five treatments: control, 0.01 % Se fertilizer inclusion, 0.05 % Se fertilizer inclusion, 0.1 % Se fertilizer inclusion and organic fertilizer inclusion to topsoil used to plant jute plants. Analysis of the phytochemicals in jute leaves was carried out via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The result shows that the phytochemicals concentration, mainly phenolics, was highest at 0.05 % Se fertilizer inclusion. Thereafter, rats were fed dietary inclusions of these biofortified vegetables (2.5 and 5 %) for thirty days. Subsequently, the rats' sera were assayed for immunoglobulins (Ig) and cytokines levels. The results showed a significant increase in Ig M, Ig A. Ig G and IL-6 particularly at 5 % dietary inclusion of the Se biofortified vegetables. This study therefore, shows that Se-biofortified jute leaves could modulate some critical proteins of the immune system essential for responding to immunogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvia officinalis plant produce various terpene compounds have many roles and useful biological properties in plants. In different salvia species structure of sesquiterpenes was remarked to be the main group of compounds at various tissues and development stages. However, some genes responsible for sesquiterpene synthese in S. officinalis remain unclear. In this study, we clone the full-length of sesquiterpene synthase (SoTPS3) gene from S. officinalis. The full-length cDNA of SoTPS3 contains a 1668-bp open reading frame that putatively encoded a protein of 555 amino acids which resembled a sesquiterpene synthase in sequence. The deduced SoTPS3 shared an overall homology with other known sesquiterpene genes from other plants. Analysis of SoTPS3 amino acid sequence revealed that it contained two domains and four types of motifs such as, DDxxD, NSE/DTE, RRx8W and RXR. Bioinformatics and phylogenetic analyses revealed that SoTPS3 clustered in clade subfamily TPS-a, and the genes that belong to this subfamily can encode mono- and sesquiterpene. Functional complementation of SoTPS3 in Arabidopsis thaliana demonstrates that SoTPS3 is responsible for the production of Germacrene D-4α-ol. Overexpression of SoTPS3 in A. thaliana enhanced flower formation in transgenic plants compared with wild type. Our study will provide a basis for understanding the role of SoTPS3 in the biosynthesis of sesquiterpene in S. officinalis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]