The genome of jojoba: The only plant to store wax in its seeds

The seeds of jojoba are one of the only known sustainable sources of liquid wax esters. They have been used as an eco-friendly replacement for similar oils that were once harvested from the spermaceti organ of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which nearly drove it to extinction. "Jojoba is the only plant to store wax in its seeds. Such a vegetable oil has heretofore been unavailable," says Dr. Eberhard Munz (research group AAN).

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