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Cyperus polystachyos Rottb. is a species primarily distributed across tropical and subtropical regions of the world, while in Europe it remains very rare, with confirmed records only from two Italian sites, i.e., Tor Caldara Natural Regional Reserve (on the southern Lazio coast, central Italy) and Ischia Island (Campania region, southern Italy), where it grows in an open habitat on sulphur-rich soils and in Hungary, along the Danube River (an historical occurrence based on a herbarium collection dated October 1891). Following a detailed examination of specimens preserved in several European herbaria, we identified a previously overlooked historical collection from Sicily, a region where the species had long been considered absent but where this specimen provides the first confirmed evidence of its historical presence. Morphologically, C. polystachyos is highly polymorphic, leading to the description of many taxa over the centuries. Of these, only two varieties are currently accepted, i.e., var. polystachyos and var. holosericeus (Link) C.B.Clarke. To clarify the application of these varietal names, we conducted a nomenclatural study of Rottbøll’s C. polystachyos and Link’s C. holosericeus Link (the basionym of C. polystachyos var. holosericeus). We designate a specimen housed at C (barcode C10010299), collected by König in India, as the lectotype of C. polystachyos and a specimen deposited at K (barcode K002543977), collected by Drummond in the United States, as the neotype of C. holosericeus (no original material appears to survive for Link’s name). For nomenclatural purposes, we also examined the names C. fascicularis Poir. and C. scopellatus Rich., two of the earliest names associated with C. polystachyos. These are lectotypified here on specimens P00644234 (Poiret’s collection) and P00254684 (Richard’s collection), respectively. Full article

Varunaivibrio sulfuroxidans type strain TC8^T is a mesophilic, facultatively anaerobic, facultatively chemolithoautotrophic alphaproteobacterium isolated from a sulfidic shallow-water marine gas vent located at Tor Caldara, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. V. sulfuroxidans belongs to the family Thalassospiraceae within the Alphaproteobacteria, with Magnetovibrio blakemorei as its closest relative. The genome of V. sulfuroxidans encodes the genes involved in sulfur, thiosulfate and sulfide oxidation, as well as nitrate and oxygen respiration. The genome encodes the genes involved in carbon fixation via the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle, in addition to genes involved in glycolysis and the TCA cycle, indicating a mixotrophic lifestyle. Genes involved in the detoxification of mercury and arsenate are also present. The genome also encodes a complete flagellar complex, one intact prophage and one CRISPR, as well as a putative DNA uptake mechanism mediated by the type IVc (aka Tad pilus) secretion system. Overall, the genome of Varunaivibrio sulfuroxidans highlights the organism’s metabolic versatility, a characteristic that makes this strain well-adapted to the dynamic environmental conditions of sulfidic gas vents. Full article