This award will enable Prof. Walton W. Dickhoff of the University of Washington to collaborate with Prof. Hiroshi Kawauchi of Kitasato University, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, over a period of two years. They will investigate the biochemical purity, biological activities, and immunological characteristics of preparations of salmon gonado- tropic hormones, thyroid stimulating hormones, growth hormones, and prolactin. In addition, they will attempt to isolate and determine the amino acid sequence of one particular subunit of the thyroid stimulating hormone, and develop criteria for control of quality and uniformity of fish hormone specimens. The overall purpose of this research is to facilitate the eventual establishment of centers for the distribution of well-characterized fish hormones to qualified researchers in the U.S. and Japan. These centers, by providing researchers access to standard hormone prepara- tions, would facilitate research on fish physiology and aquaculture in both countries. The work brings together the respective strengths of the U.S. laboratory in the area of fish physiology, and of the Japanese laboratory in the area of biochemistry.
