As a vital part of microbial communities, viruses in constructed wetlands (CWs) remain poorly explored, yet they could significantly affect pollutant removal. Here, two pilot-scale CWs were built to investigate the viral community under different hydraulic loading rates (HLRs) using in-depth metagenomic analysis. Gene-sharing networks suggested that the CWs were pools of unexplored viruses. A higher abundance of prokaryotic functional genes related to sulfur cycling and denitrification was observed in the higher HLR condition, which was associated with greater removal of total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen compared to the lower HLR condition. Viruses also affect nitrogen pollutant removal by potentially infecting functional prokaryotes, such as denitrification bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, and by providing auxiliary metabolic genes involved in sulfur and nitrogen cycling. These findings reveal the significance of viruses in pollutant removal in CWs and enhance the understanding of the relationship between engineering design parameters and performance from microbial perspectives.

中文翻译：

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病毒-原核生物相互作用有助于去除人工湿地中的污染物


作为微生物群落的重要组成部分，人工湿地 （CW） 中的病毒仍然没有得到充分开发，但它们可能会显着影响污染物的去除。在这里，构建了两个中试规模的 CW，以使用深入的宏基因组分析来研究不同水力负载速率 （HLR） 下的病毒群落。基因共享网络表明 CW 是未探索的病毒库。在较高的 HLR 条件下观察到与硫循环和反硝化相关的原核功能基因的丰度较高，与较低的 HLR 条件相比，这与更大的总氮和硝酸盐氮的去除有关。病毒还通过可能感染功能性原核生物（如反硝化细菌和氨氧化细菌）以及提供参与硫和氮循环的辅助代谢基因来影响氮污染物的去除。这些发现揭示了病毒在 CWs 污染物去除中的重要性，并从微生物的角度增强了对工程设计参数与性能之间关系的理解。