Publications

does aponomma varanensis (acari: ixodida: ixodidae) occur on the taiwanese mainland?	on 15 july 1976, teams from the u.s. naval medical research unit no. 2, taipei, taiwan, made 3 collections of ticks from beneath the dorsal scales of the taiwan stink snake, elaphe carinata, at makung in the penghu islands, which lie astride the tropic of cancer in the taiwan strait between southern mainland china and taiwan proper. these ticks were later determined to be aponomma varanensis (supino, 1897), but this discovery was never published, and no member of the genus aponomma has heretofor ...	1996	8691388
the effects of thermal and hydric environments on hatching success, embryonic use of energy and hatchling traits in a colubrid snake, elaphe carinata.	we examined the effects of thermal and hydric environments on hatching success, the embryonic use of energy and hatchling traits in a colubrid snake, elaphe carinata. the eggs were incubated at four temperatures ranging from 24 to 32 degrees c on substrates with water potentials of 0 and -220 kpa using a 4x2 factorial design. both thermal and hydric environments affected the water exchange between eggs and their surroundings. eggs incubated in wetter substrates gained mass throughout the course ...	2001	11423316
experimentally reducing clutch size reveals a fixed upper limit to egg size in snakes, evidence from the king ratsnake, elaphe carinata.	snakes are free of the pelvic girdle's constraint on maximum offspring size, and therefore present an opportunity to investigate the upper limit to offspring size without the limit imposed by the pelvic girdle dimension. we used the king ratsnake (elaphe carinata) as a model animal to examine whether follicle ablation may result in enlargement of egg size in snakes and, if so, whether there is a fixed upper limit to egg size. females with small sized yolking follicles were assigned to three mani ...	2006	16753321
severe infection of wild-caught snakes with spirometra erinaceieuropaei from food markets in guangzhou, china involves a risk for zoonotic sparganosis.	wild-caught snakes are a popular and traditional food in china. however, little known to the public, snakes are also intermediate hosts of spirometra erinaceieuropaei, a food- and water-borne pathogen of sparganosis. therefore, we investigated the prevalence of s. erinaceieuropaei in 10 popular species of wild-caught snakes in guangzhou city (guangdong province) between july 2009 and july 2010. one hundred and twenty-four specimens of 10 species (including enhydris plumbea, zoacys dhumnades, ela ...	2010	21348631
completion of the life cycle of sarcocystis zuoi, a parasite from norway rat, rattus norvegicus.	abstract transmission experiments were performed to elucidate the life cycle of sarcocystis zuoi found in norway rats (rattus norvegicus) from china. two king rat snakes (elaphe carinata) fed sarcocysts from the muscles of 4 naturally infected norway rats shed sporocyts measuring 10.8 ± 0.7 × 8.0 ± 0.7 μm with a prepatent period of 8 to 9 days. sporocyts from the intestine of 2 experimentally infected king rat snakes were given to the laboratory sd rats (rattus norvegicus) and km mice (mus mus ...	2011	22150019
first report of amblyomma helvolum (acari: ixodidae) from the taiwan stink snake, elaphe carinata (reptilia: colubridae), collected in southern taiwan.	a taiwan stink snake (elaphe carinata) was captured in shrubbery at a fruit farm in southern taiwan, and 3 female ticks (2 flat, one fully engorged) observed on this snake were collected and identified as amblyomma helvolum, the first record of this host association in mainland taiwan. the key morphological characters of female a. helvolum were photographed using a stereomicroscope. this first report of a. helvolum feeding on a reptilian host in taiwan includes the first color illustrations of a ...	2013	23352173
ophidascaris wangi sp. n. and o. najae (gedoelst, 1916) (ascaridida: ascaridoidea) from snakes in china.	ophidascaris wangi sp. n. collected from the king rat snake elaphe carinata (günther) (serpentes: colubridae) in china is described using both light and scanning electron microscopy. the new species differs from its congeners in the presence of narrow lateral alae originating a short distance posterior to the base of the ventrolateral lips, its relatively long oesophagus (3.57-4.54 mm long, representing 6.6-7.6% of body length), its short spicules (1.89-2.14 mm long, representing 3.9-4.3% of bod ...	2014	25651700
first report of hepatozoon (apicomplexa: adeleorina) from king ratsnakes (elaphe carinata) in shanghai, with description of a new species.	hepatozoon species are the most common hemoparasites of snakes. in this study, hepatozoon parasites were examined for the first time in king rat snakes (elaphe carinata) from shanghai, china. all 10 snakes were found to be infected with hepatozoon gamonts. the gamonts were folded back in a hook-wise fashion for about 3 μm at one end. parasitemia levels ranged from 4-43 infected erythrocytes per 1,000 examined. the gamonts changed the morphology of the parasitized erythrocytes. although the gamon ...	2015	26203995
the occurrence of the strongylid nematodes kalicephalus brachycephalus, k. bungari and k. indicus in snake species from hunan province, china.	kalicephalus is a genus of strongylid nematodes infecting snakes and causing serious diseases and even death when it is complicated with secondary bacterial infections. the infection of snakes with kalicephalus has been reported in many countries in the world. however, little information is available on the prevalence of kalicephalus in snakes in china. in the present study, the prevalence of kalicephalus in snakes was investigated. the worms were examined, counted and identified to species acco ...	2017	27188582
high activity chimeric snake gamma-type phospholipase a2 inhibitor created by dna shuffling.	the gamma-type inhibitor of snake venom phospholipase a2 (pliγ) is expressed extensively in livers of both venomous and non-venomous snakes. it is not clear why pliγs from different snake species possess diverse activities. to obtain high activity pliγs and interpret the sequence-function relationships, we used dna shuffling to hybridize the pliγs of sinonatrix annularis (sapliγ) and elaphe carinata (ecpliγ). chimera pliγs (cpliγ) of ∼550 bp were obtained by a series of gene manipulations includ ...	2018	30170166
comparative analysis and characterization of the gut microbiota of four farmed snakes from southern china.	the gut microbiota plays an important role in host immunity and metabolic homeostasis. although analyses of gut microbiotas have been used to assess host health and foster disease prevention and treatment, no comparative comprehensive study, assessing gut microbiotas among several species of farmed snake, is yet available. in this study, we characterized and compared the gut microbiotas of four species of farmed snakes (naja atra, ptyas mucosa, elaphe carinata, and deinagkistrodon acutus) using ...	2019	30956901
genetic analysis of avian gyrovirus 2 variant-related gyrovirus detected in farmed king ratsnake (elaphe carinata): the first report from china.	avian gyrovirus 2 (agv2), which is similar to chicken infectious anemia virus, is a new member of the genus gyrovirus. agv2 has been detected not only in chicken but also in human tissues and feces. this study analyzed 91 samples (8 from liver tissue and 83 from fecal samples) collected from king ratsnakes (elaphe carinata) from 7 separate farms in hubei and henan, china, for agv2 dna using pcr. the results demonstrated a low positive rate of agv2 (6.59%, 6/91) in the snakes, and all the positiv ...	2019	31614719
prevalence and molecular characterization of spirometra erinaceieuropaei spargana in snakes in hunan province, china.	sparganosis is an important foodborne parasitic zoonosis; however, few reports on the prevalence of snake-infecting plerocercoids from hunan province in china are available. therefore, we investigated the prevalence of spargana infection in wild snakes from this region in 2018, and identified an astonishing prevalence rate of 91.7% (344/375). spargana parasites were found in 99.1% of zaocys dhumnades, 94.1% of elaphe carinata and 86.7% of elaphe taeniura. parasites exhibited various distribution ...	2020	32103785
integrated analysis of mrna and mirna expression profiles reveals muscle growth differences between fast- and slow-growing king ratsnakes (elaphe carinata).	in some countries, snakes are important protein sources in human diets, and their economic value depends predominantly on their muscle production, including in the king ratsnake (elaphe carinata). muscle growth in the king ratsnake clearly differs among individuals. to date, few potential molecular mechanisms underlying these differences in muscle growth and development have been reported. here, we integrated mrna and mirna expression profiles to screen for genes, pathways, and predicted mirna-m ...	2020	32712271