A Review on Microorganisms in Constructed Wetlands for Typical Pollutant Removal: Species, Function, and Diversity

Jianwu Wang; Yuannan Long; Guanlong Yu; Guoliang Wang; Zhenyu Zhou; Peiyuan Li; Yameng Zhang; Kai Yang; Shitao Wang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.845725

A Review on Microorganisms in Constructed Wetlands for Typical Pollutant Removal: Species, Function, and Diversity

Front Microbiol. 2022 Apr 5:13:845725. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.845725. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jianwu Wang^{1

2}, Yuannan Long^{1

2}, Guanlong Yu^{1

2

3}, Guoliang Wang^{1

2}, Zhenyu Zhou^{1

2}, Peiyuan Li^{1

2}, Yameng Zhang^{1

2}, Kai Yang^{1

2}, Shitao Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, China.
² Key Laboratory of Dongting Lake Aquatic Eco-Environmental Control and Restoration of Hunan Province, Changsha, China.
³ Engineering and Technical Center of Hunan Provincial Environmental Protection for River-Lake Dredging Pollution Control, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been proven as a reliable alternative to traditional wastewater treatment technologies. Microorganisms in CWs, as an important component, play a key role in processes such as pollutant degradation and nutrient transformation. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the community structure and diversity of microorganisms, especially for functional microorganisms, in CWs is important to understand its performance patterns and explore optimized strategies. With advances in molecular biotechnology, it is now possible to analyze and study microbial communities and species composition in complex environments. This review performed bibliometric analysis of microbial studies in CWs to evaluate research trends and identify the most studied pollutants. On this basis, the main functional microorganisms of CWs involved in the removal of these pollutants are summarized, and the effects of these pollutants on microbial diversity are investigated. The result showed that the main phylum involved in functional microorganisms in CWs include Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. These functional microorganisms can remove pollutants from CWs by catalyzing chemical reactions, biodegradation, biosorption, and supporting plant growth, etc. Regarding microbial alpha diversity, heavy metals and high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus significantly reduce microbial richness and diversity, whereas antibiotics can cause large fluctuations in alpha diversity. Overall, this review can provide new ideas and directions for the research of microorganisms in CWs.

Keywords: constructed wetlands; functional microorganisms; microbial diversity; pollutant removal; wastewater treatment.

Publication types

Review