  We introduce a metallicity dependence of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rate into
the Galactic and cosmic chemical evolution models. In our SN Ia progenitor
scenario, the accreting white dwarf (WD) blows a strong wind to reach the
Chandrasekhar mass limit. If the iron abundance of the progenitors is as low as
[Fe/H] < -1, then the wind is too weak for SNe Ia to occur. Our model
successfully reproduces the observed chemical evolution in the solar
neighborhood. We make the following predictions which can test this metallicity
effect: 1) SNe Ia are not found in the low-iron abundance environments such as
dwarf galaxies and the outskirts of spirals. 2) The cosmic SN Ia rate drops at
z \sim 1-2 due to the low-iron abundance, which can be observed with the Next
Generation Space Telescope. At z > 1-2, SNe Ia can be found only in the
environments where the timescale of metal enrichment is sufficiently short as
in starburst galaxies and ellipticals.
  The low-metallicity inhibition of SNe Ia can shed new light on the following
issues: 1) The limited metallicity range of the SN Ia progenitors would imply
that ``evolution effects'' are relatively small for the use of high redshift
SNe Ia to determine the cosmological parameters. 2) WDs of halo populations are
poor producers of SNe Ia, so that the WD contribution to the halo mass is not
constrained from the iron abundance in the halo. 3) The abundance patterns of
globular clusters and field stars in the Galactic halo lack of SN Ia signatures
in spite of their age difference of several Gyrs, which can be explained by the
low-metallicity inhibition of SNe Ia. 4) It could also explain why the SN Ia
contamination is not seen in the damped Ly\alpha systems for over a wide range
of redshift.
