Dermatitis in the Fringe-Toed Lizard, Acanthodactylus nilsoni Rastegar-Pouyani, 1998 (Sauria: Lacertidae) Associated with Fusarium proliferatum.

From July to October 2013, nine out of 40 Acanthodactylus nilsoni collected from Western Iran, showed clinical signs of dermatitis in the dorsal and ventral surface of neck and fingers. Therefore, the aim of this survey was to identify the fungal flora colonizing the skin of A. nilsoni using morphological and molecular studies. Nine isolates of Fusarium were obtained from infected lizard samples and identified as Fusarium proliferatum through study of morphological characters. In the present study, selected F. proliferatum isolates (USMGFSC 230-112, USMGFSC 186-113, and USMGFSC 33-114) were examined and phylogenetically analysed on the basis of partial sequences of the tef1 and tub2 genes. Sequence analysis supported the morphological data, and all isolates were placed within F. proliferatum species. This is the first report on morphological and molecular identification of F. proliferatum isolated from lizards' dermatitis in Iran.