Characterization of an intracellular bacterium infecting the digestive gland of the South African abalone Haliotis midae

The manuscript shows that farmed abalone, showing no disease symptoms, can remain healthy despite the presence of intracellular bacteria colonising their digestive glands. The study shows that Rickettsiales-like prokaryotes detected in farmed abalone are not necessarily “Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis”, the causative agent of withering syndrome.