'Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis', an intracellular bacterium from the hepatopancreas of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda)

1 University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Biological Department, Ve na pot 111, 1111 Ljubljana, Slovenia 2 University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Zootechnical Department, Groblje 3, 1230 Dom ale, Slovenia Correspondence Gorazd Avgu tin gorazd.avgustin{at}bfro.uni-lj.si Intracellular bacteria were observed in the hepatopancreas of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber . Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and electron microscopic observations were used to determine the taxonomic position of these intracellular bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis and a complex developmental cycle affiliate these bacteria to the order Chlamydiales , within which they form a distinctive lineage, close to the family Simkaniaceae . They share