9629849 Lively In a genetically diverse population, parasites may preferentially attack the most common genetic type. Thus, cross fertilization in plants and animals may have the benefit of producing offspring with rare genotypes, which is called the Red Queen hypothesis. The objective of this project is to test a critical prediction of the Red Queen hypothesis, that host clones that were common in the recent past are preferentially attacked by parasites, and hence their proportion in the population has been reduced. The long-term dynamics of a natural, clonal population of freshwater snails will be studied, and the clone dynamics will be studied, and the clone dynamics will be related to host clone-specific rates of infection. The results will be important for understanding susceptibility and resistance to pests and pathogens, and how such parasites cause genetic changes in the host population.
