Thiaminase Literature

[z10silver]

Hello, I am a Junior Biology major at Ithaca College and I am in the process of conducting a research project on feeding behavior in garter snakes. I have been searching for any peer-reviewed literature regarding the effects of thiaminase in snakes (or other reptiles - I have only been able to find info regarding crocodilians).

Thank you for any help,
Zach Cava

[Snaky]

Don't know if this can help you:
http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Thiamin,

Welcome to the forum :)

[salzar]

welcome from upstate n.y. we all love to chat!!!
bye
michelle

[drache]

hi Zach - welcome here
are you Terry's friend?

[z10silver]

Yes - Terry generously donated all of the snakes for the study (which have since been released). I am still busy researching/analyzing the data I've obtained, but here is a brief summary of the results:

For the experiment, I divided a litter of 37 newborn
T. s. sirtalis into three groups. (All snakes housed
individually) One group was fed earthworms, one was
fed fathead minnows, and the other was fed an
alternating worm/fish diet. The snakes were offered
an excess (weighed) of food items chopped into small
pieces. The snakes were weighed before and after
eating to determine (approx.) how much food was eaten.
At the end of the study (5 weeks) the diets of the
worm group and the fish group were reversed.

I found that all snakes in the worm group ate at every
feeding, and consumed a higher avg. weight of food
than snakes in the fish diet.

Of the 12 snakes in the fish group, 10 snakes ate
regularly, while 2 refused food after the initially
feeding.

Of the 12 snakes in the worm/fish diet, all consumed
worms at the initial feeding. However, when offered
fish, 4 snakes would not eat. This trend continued.
In sequential offerings of fish, between 6 and 9 of
the snakes would not eat. Interestingly, the snakes
seemed to have developed a modified feeding pattern to
compensate. On days when they were given worms, the
snakes in the worm/fish group consumed significantly
more worms than the snakes in the worm group. The
snakes in the worm/fish group that did consume fish
ate significantly less than snakes in the fish group.

This result supports previous studies that have shown that exposure to certain prey items (in this case worms) can inhibit the response to other prey (minnows).


However, I am unsure if this
accounts entirely for the observed results. (2 snakes refused fish after initally consuming it) Studies have
shown that garter snakes may be conditioned to avoid
prey that induces illness. I am curious if
thiaminase could play a role in the conditioning of
the snakes to avoid minnows.

-Zach Cava

[zooplan]

Are you able to read German?

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Zach :)

[anji1971]

Welcome from Canada, Zach! That's an interesting study you've got going, looking forward to hearing what else you learn!

[z10silver]

Thanks for the replies - the article "THIAMIN, THIAMINASE, & GOLDFISH" contains a lot of good information on thiaminase, however it seems to be regarding humans for the most part. Since garter snakes are significantly different from humans on a biological level, we can not assume that thiaminase acts in an identicle fashion, or produces the same symptoms.

The article does say that "A diet primarily composed of goldfish results in severe thiamin deficiency in 6-9 months." I was wondering if anyone knew the source for this information? I am not sure of who compiled the info for this article?

I am trying to figure out how long it would take for a newborn garter snake fed only fathead minnows to develop ANY signs of illness as a result of thiaminase.

-Zach

[Cazador]

Hi Zach,

I'm the author of the thiaminase article referenced above, and I admit that a more thorough bibliography is long overdue. Time is the limiting factor, though. One point that I'd like to clarify is that the article is not specific to humans, nor even primarily based on human-data. Take a second look at the existing bibliography. It's primarily based on biochemistry and mechanistic data and primarily based on animal models. Since you're studying biochemical reactions, I won't quibble over assumptions or the ubiquity of common form and function in biology.

For the type of information you're after, you'll need to find the concentration of thiaminase enzymes in P. promelas, specifically. For that I would start by checking the reference on page one of the table (Deutch and Hasler, 1943). You'll find more info at the big U.S. herpitology society websites and in their journals. Have a look at www.asih.org (http://www.asih.org) and Web Portal - CNAH The Center for North American Herpetology (http://www.cnah.org). Though I suspect you've already done so, be sure to stop by your university library and do a search through their academic databases. Some of the best sources that you shouldn't overlook are veterinary textbooks for reptiles. Here's one I highly recommend (Infectious Diseases and Pathology of Reptiles by Elliot Jacobson). Finally, a google search might turn up references or even names of specialists in the field, whose name you can query in the scientific literature. Sorry I can't help you more at the moment, but I'm preparing for my own presentation for a conference in Washington DC in two weeks.

Finally, the quote about snakes dying from goldfish in 6-9 months may not be of use to you. I got it from one of my "hobbiest" handbooks, which aren't peer reviewed. Unfortunately, it also corresponds to my own observations before I knew about the thiaminase enzyme and its effects. Hope this helps,

Rick