The DMSP Cleavage Reaction

3 The DMSP Cleavage Reaction and Its Products 8.3.1 The DMSP Cleavage Reaction 

Most of the species that produce DMSP can also cleave it, suggesting that DMSP is produced in order to be able to rapidly generate its breakdown products or to use the cleavage reaction as a means of regulating intracellular concentrations of DMSP, carbon, or sulfur (Stefels 2000). The cleavage products of DMSP have been hypothesized to function as antioxidants (Sunda et al. 2002 Ross and Van Alstyne 2007), antibiotics (Sieburth 1960, 1961), and herbivore feeding deterrents (Wolfe et al. 1997 Van Alstyne et al. 2001b Van Alstyne and Houser 2003). A more detailed description of each of these functions is described in what follows. 

Several lines of evidence support the existence of a DMSP-based activated defense against sea urchin grazing in northeastern Pacific ulvoid algae  

The food preferences of macroinvertebrate herbivores for seaweeds containing high DMSP concentrations vary enormously among herbivore species. When temperate green and purple sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and S. purpuratus) 

The fate of DMSP generated by macroalgae is not well known however, the role of microalgal DMSP in oceanic and atmospheric sulfur cycles has been well studied. Macroalgal DMSP likely undergoes many of the same processes as microalgal 

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