What is it about?
The main constituent of ambergris, which is found as large dung stones inside some sperm whales and also rarely on beaches as jetsam, is a chemical called ambrein. We wanted to discover how ambrein is made inside the whales. We produced indirect evidence that ambrein is made by bacteria inside the whale.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
No one knows how ambrein is made inside a sperm whale or why only about 1 in 100 whales contain ambergris. Our study provides a clue that it is made by bacteria inside the whale. Ambrein is one of the most valuable components of perfumes, so learning that it is made by bacteria and how, may be important.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Biosynthesis of ambrein in ambergris: evidence from isotopic data and identification of possible intermediates, Natural Product Research, July 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2019.1644630.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
