The results confirmed what the RNA analysis had already suggested: Elevated levels of methionine, a sulfur-containing amino acid, were present in tissue samples from the start of the bloom.

The giant flower’s foul odour is designed to attract pollinating insects, especially carrion beetles that feed on and lay ...

When it blooms, this stinky flower releases chemicals that smell like rotting flesh to attact pollinators, such as carrion beetles and flies.

Free cystine and reduced gluta-thione behaved similarly. Methionine and gelatin, which contains methionine but no cystine or cysteine, did not produce hydrogen sulphide under these conditions.