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Vertical flow constructed wetlands for the treatment of inorganic ...

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2.4.2.5 Nitrogen trans<strong>for</strong>ming bacteria community analyses in <strong>wetlands</strong><br />

Nitrogen trans<strong>for</strong>mations in <strong>constructed</strong> <strong>wetlands</strong> are principally carried out by<br />

complex microbial communities which are associated with <strong>the</strong> substrate, macrophytes<br />

roots and incoming wastewater (Vymazal, 2005).<br />

Early studies on <strong>constructed</strong> <strong>wetlands</strong> have inferred that microbial processes<br />

influence <strong>treatment</strong> per<strong>for</strong>mance in <strong>wetlands</strong>, based primarily on <strong>the</strong> knowledge <strong>of</strong><br />

processes in o<strong>the</strong>r wastewater <strong>treatment</strong> systems (Faulwetter et al., 2009). Faulwetter<br />

et al. (2009) also point out that circumstantial evidence based on measurement <strong>of</strong><br />

changes in influent vs effluent water chemistry has been commonly used to<br />

corroborate microbial activity taking place in <strong>wetlands</strong>. Qualitative and quantitative<br />

data on <strong>the</strong> specific microorganisms in action, however, is usually lacking and has only<br />

been <strong>the</strong> focus <strong>of</strong> more recent research.<br />

Research in wetland biogeochemistry has predominantly focused on processes,<br />

such as denitrification and methanogenesis, <strong>for</strong> example, and less <strong>of</strong>ten on microbial<br />

communities or on specific microbial populations (Gutknecht et al., 2006). Investigating<br />

functional microbial communities, along with assessing <strong>the</strong>ir diversity and distribution<br />

is important not only because it contributes to <strong>the</strong> characterisation <strong>of</strong> <strong>constructed</strong><br />

<strong>wetlands</strong> by identifying key players in pollutant trans<strong>for</strong>mation (Sleytr et al., 2009) but<br />

it also contributes towards our mechanistic understanding <strong>of</strong> wetland ecosystem<br />

functioning (Gutknecht et al., 2006) which can be used to overcome <strong>the</strong> “black box”<br />

approach that has been commonly applied to <strong>treatment</strong> <strong>wetlands</strong> used <strong>for</strong> water<br />

pollution control.<br />

There are several different methods to investigate microbial composition and<br />

diversity in <strong>the</strong> environment. Classical methods to analyse microbial abundance in<br />

environmental samples involve <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> liquid or solid media (general or selective) to<br />

allow <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> microbes initially present in <strong>the</strong> sample (Truu et al. 2009). The<br />

growth <strong>of</strong> microbes in plates under controlled conditions and subsequent colony<br />

counting (plate counting), or <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> microbes in liquid medium with serial<br />

dilutions (most probable number –MPN) are classical culture based microbiological<br />

methods. The applicability <strong>of</strong> culture based techniques to assess microbial diversity is<br />

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