biostudies-literatureIngle DJNational Health and Medical Research Councile0100224https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12039232biostudies-literatureUnknown10(4)The Coxiellaceae bacterial family, within the order Legionellales, is defined by a collection of poorly characterized obligate intracellular bacteria. The zoonotic pathogen and causative agent of human Q fever, <i>Coxiella burnetii</i>, represents the best-characterized member of this family. Coxiellaceae establish replicative niches within diverse host cells and rely on their host for survival, making them challenging to isolate and cultivate within a laboratory setting. Here, we describe a new genus within the Coxiellaceae family that has been previously shown to infect economically significant freshwater crayfish. Using culture-independent long-read metagenomics, we reconstructed the complete genome of this novel organism and demonstrate that the species previously referred to as CandidmSphereThe complete genome sequence of the crayfish pathogen Candidatus &lt;i&gt;Paracoxiella cheracis&lt;/i&gt; n.g. n.sp. provides insight into pathogenesis and the phylogeny of the Coxiellaceae family.PMC12039232GNT1194325GNT1195210GNT2010841Walsh CJWick RRFiocchi EElliman JIngle DJOwens LStinear TPJudd LMPretto TNewton HJBasso ASamuel GRDavidovich NfalseThe complete genome sequence of the crayfish pathogen Candidatus &lt;i&gt;Paracoxiella cheracis&lt;/i&gt; n.g. n.sp. provides insight into pathogenesis and the phylogeny of the Coxiellaceae family.The Coxiellaceae bacterial family, within the order Legionellales, is defined by a collection of poorly characterized obligate intracellular bacteria. The zoonotic pathogen and causative agent of human Q fever, <i>Coxiella burnetii</i>, represents the best-characterized member of this family. Coxiellaceae establish replicative niches within diverse host cells and rely on their host for survival, making them challenging to isolate and cultivate within a laboratory setting. Here, we describe a new genus within the Coxiellaceae family that has been previously shown to infect economically significant freshwater crayfish. Using culture-independent long-read metagenomics, we reconstructed the complete genome of this novel organism and demonstrate that the species previously referred to as Candid2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Apr2026-06-01T07:48:17.399Z2025-07-08T03:10:53.144ZS-EPMC120392324006286610.1128/msphere.01002-24