LTREB: A Long-Term Study of Host-Parasite Interactions

智力上的优点。对生物学家来说，长期维持自然种群的遗传多样性被广泛认为是最有趣的挑战之一。寄生虫假说预测，寄生虫和病原体将进化成不成比例地感染常见的宿主基因型，从而导致遗传变异的长期维持。寄生虫假说将通过长期调查和一系列实验室感染实验进行验证，实验重点放在不同的淡水蜗牛及其寄生虫种群上。这一结果将引起生态学家、寄生虫学家和保护遗传学家的广泛兴趣。更广泛的影响。这一研究体系汇聚了一群国际科学家和学生。像过去一样，这些研究人员将继续培训本科生关于宿主和寄生虫共同进化和保持遗传变异的基本思想；将尽一切努力吸引来自代表性不足群体的本科生，并让他们获得研究经验。该系统以前的结果已被用于教科书、电视节目和广播节目。由于围绕宿主-寄生虫共同进化的基本思想通常非常容易理解，它们非常适合用于教育目的。它们还对保护生物学、农业实践和疾病生态学产生了重要影响。

Intellectual merit. The long-term maintenance of genetic diversity in natural populations is widely regarded as one of the most interesting challenges for biologists. The parasite hypothesis predicts that parasites and pathogens will evolve to infect common host genotypes disproportionately, thereby resulting in the long-term maintenance of genetic variation. The parasite hypothesis will be tested using long-term surveys in conjunction with a series of laboratory infection experiments focused on a diverse population of freshwater snails and their parasitic worms. The results will be of broad interest to ecologists, parasitologists, and conservation geneticists. Broader impacts. This study system has brought together an international group of scientists and students. As in the past, these investigators will continue to train undergraduates in the basic ideas surrounding host-parasite coevolution and the maintenance of genetic variation; every effort will be made to attract undergraduate students from under-represented groups and to give them hands on experience in research. Previous results from this system have been used in textbooks, television shows, and radio programs. Because the basic ideas surrounding host-parasite coevolution are generally very accessible, they are nicely suited for educational purposes. They also have important ramifications for conservation biology, agricultural practices, and disease ecology.