Ecological Functions of the Oxidative Burst

From the previously discussed studies, the oxidative burst response appears to integrate and/or orchestrate several defense responses. These provide an adaptive mechanism to counteract attacks on or injury to algal cells and thalli. As shown in Fig. 12.2, the occurrence of an oxidative burst associated with the perception of cell-free extracts of A. operculata was shown to play a crucial role in the natural resistance of C. crispus gametophytes (Bouarab et al. 1999). 

In the red alga G. conferta, agar oligosaccharide-induced oxidative bursts also result in the elimination of the bacterial epiflora (Weinberger and Friedlander 2000). Since a positive correlation was observed between the presence of agarolytic 

Similarly, DPI-sensitive activation of H202 in marine algae and the concomitant formation of volatile and nonvolatile halogenated compounds are likely to play a 

together these studies suggest that the oxidative burst machinery has evolved before the crown diversification of eukaryotes (Baldauf 2003) to provide marine algal lineages with natural and induced innate immunity mechanisms. These play a role similar to the HR in terrestrial plants infected by incompatible pathogens and they share important common traits with the innate immunity response of mammalian phagocytes. 

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