Marine bacteria from the Roseobacter clade produce sulfur volatiles via amino acid and dimethylsulfoniopropionate catabolism.

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a versatile sulfur source for the production of sulfur-containing secondary metabolites by marine bacteria from the Roseobacter clade. S-34-labelled DMSP and cysteine, and several DMSP derivatives with modified S-alkyl groups were synthesised and used in feeding experiments that gave insights into the biosynthesis of sulfur volatiles from these bacteria.