Abstract
Plants and their associated bacteria play a crucial role in constructed wetlands. In this study, the impact of different levels of pollution and bioaugmentation with indigenous strains individually or in consortia was investigated on the composition of the endophytic microbial communities of Juncus acutus. Five treatments were examined and compared in where the wetland plant was exposed to increasing levels of metal pollution (Zn, Ni, Cd) and emerging pollutants (BPA, SMX, CIP), enriched with different combinations of single or mixed endophytic strains. High levels of mixed pollution had a negative effect on alpha diversity indices of the root communities; moreover, the diversity indices were negatively correlated with the increasing metal concentrations. It was demonstrated that the root communities were separated depending on the level of mixed pollution, while the family Sphingomonadaceae exhibited the higher relative abundance within the root endophytic communities from high and low polluted treatments. This study highlights the effects of pollution and inoculation on phytoremediation efficiency based on a better understanding of the plant microbiome community composition.
Highlights
Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a promising alternative for treating various chemical compounds and for preventing their dispersion in the environment (Verlicchi and Zambello, 2014)
The effects of bioaugmentation with endophytic bacteria on the efficiency of phytoremediation of mixed pollutants was investigated with promising results (Syranidou et al, 2016)
The metal concentrations in J. acutus roots and leaves tended to increase in the treatments with high concentrations of mixed pollution (Supplementary Figures S2–S4) while roots accumulated higher concentrations of metals compared to the leaves in every treatment
Summary
Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a promising alternative for treating various chemical compounds and for preventing their dispersion in the environment (Verlicchi and Zambello, 2014). Many studies have focused on investigating the efficiency of wetland plants to remove EOCs in hydroponic systems and the potential effects of these compounds on the plant physiological status (Dordio et al, 2011; Liu et al, 2013; Christofilopoulos et al, 2016). They are efficient in removing metals from various influents such as industrial wastewater (Khan et al, 2009), landfill leachate (A et al, 2017), and acid mine drainage (Wu et al, 2015). The contribution of plant-associated microorganisms to metal phytoremediation has been highlighted through promoting plant growth in metal polluted areas, influencing metal uptake and translocation, and increasing the metal bioavailability by secretion of ligands and organic acids (Sessitsch et al, 2013; Ma et al, 2016a)
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