Parthenogenetic Reproduction and It's Correlation to the Presence of a Single Trematode Parasite in Freshwater Snails. This award recommendation is made under the U.S.-Industrialized Countries Program for the Exchange of Scientists and Engineers, 1987/1988 Competition. The program is designed to enable institutions in the industrialized countries of Western Europe as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Exchange awards provide opportunities for the conduct of joint research and the utilization of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions in foreign contries. Awards are selected on the basis of scientific criteria relevant to his/her field of science, the prospective potential of the applicants of international cooperation in science and engineering. The program is particularly directed to scientists and engineers who are embarking on their research career. This research project will address the problem of correlation between the capability of the freshwater snail, Potamorpyrgus Antipodarum, of parthenogenetic reproduction and the presence of a single trematode parasite. The purpose of this study is to directly test the a priori prediction that sexual snails are more resistant to infection by the trematode parasite than are asexual snails - a necessary condition for the maintenance of sex by natural selection resulting from parasitism. The project is under the direction of Dr. Curtis M. Lively, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, U.S.A., and Dr. C. L. McLay, Head, Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 1, New Zealand. This award recommendation provides funds to cover, as appropriate, international travel, local travel abroad, stipend, dependents allowance, if applicable, language training, if required, and a flat administrative allowance of $250 for the U.S. home institution.
