High doses of gamma radiation (10 Krad) in Biomphalaria tenagophila snails (Taim strain), which have been found to be resistant to Schistosoma mansoni, were not sufficient to impair their resistance to the parasite. The number of hemocytes, as well as their phagocytic activity, were not affected by irradiation, thus showing resemblance with mammal macrophages, which are resistant to gamma irrad...

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Dicrocoeliidae larval stages in Helix lucorum found Eskisehir and Bartin provinces Turkey. Snails were collected from pastures Bartin. The snails anesthetised with 50 mM sterilized magnesium chloride (MgCl2) before being dissected. Internal organs snail, specifically hepatopancreas, analysed a stereomicroscope terms sporocyst cercaria.The ...

BACKGROUND Infection with Ornithobilharzia turkestanicum has been reported in a wide range of animals worldwide. This study was undertaken to assess the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for detecting the infection with O. turkestanicum larvae stages in Lymnaea gedrosiana. METHODS A total of 6,759 Lymnaeidae snails were collected from six aquatic habitats in West Azarbaijan, northwe...

Schistosomiasis japonica, caused by Schistosoma japonicum infection, remains a major public health concern in China, and the geographical distribution of this neglected tropical disease is limited to regions where Oncomelania hupensis, the intermediate host of the causative parasite, is detected. The purpose of this study was to monitor the transmission of S. japonicum in potential risk regions...

The problem of the structure of complex proteins containing carbohydrates in their molecule is still a subject of discussion. The fundamental questions which have been debated during the last decades and which have been the subject of many controversies are concerned with the nature of the carbohydrate group present in the molecule of these substances. Since the discovery of mucoproteins or muc...

With this study, 28 pools of snails of the genus Helix, respectively Helix aspersa (n=24) and Helix vermiculata (n=4) were analysed. They were taken from snail farming and stores. The snails were from Sardinia, other regions of Italy, and from abroad. All the samples were examined as pool looking for these microbiological target: Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157, C...

To determine the effect of nematode infection on the response of snails to selected toxins, we infected Helix aspersa with 0-, 0.25-, 1-, or 4-fold the recommended field dose of a commercial nematode application for agricultural use. In the first experiment, the snails also were exposed to cadmium via food and soil at concentrations of 0, 30, 60, 120, or 240 mg/kg in a full-factorial design. In...

Hibernating snails (Helix aspersa) were activated by placing them in environmental chambers under either long-day (LD 18:6) or short-day (LD 8:16) lighting conditions. One day after activation all the snails were injected with (3H-thymidine (5 microCi/g wet weight) in order to estimate the duration of spermatogenic phases under long and short-day cycles. Our histological and autoradiographic ob...

Reproductive traits of the land snail Helix aspersa Müller were investigated under artificial conditions from two samples, one collected from a population exposed to unpredictable human pressures in its natural environment, i.e. a recently created polders area with intensive agriculture, and the other from a snail farm in which animals were reared under constant conditions defined as ‘optimal’ ...

The use of snails as biocontrol agents against other snails and against aquatic weeds is reviewed, evaluating their success and their impacts on non-target organisms. The predatory snail Euglandina rosea (and other species), although widely used against Achatina fulica (the giant African land snail) on Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, has not been shown to control A. fulica but has seriously i...