**4. Conclusions**

This study establishes the usefulness of exploiting rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria in FTW in a partnership with two wetland plants namely *B. mutica* and *L. fusca* for reclamation of water contaminated with SDS. We argue that a traditional FTW can be an effective choice for enhanced SDS removal from the wastewater if well-screened bacterial communities are inoculated in the system. In this way, a successful attenuation in COD, BOD, and pollutant of interest (SDS) could be achieved in a very short time. This study also argues that, if inoculated bacteria are compatible with the host and do not compete for resources with each other, they can survive well *in planta,* support the host health, and improve pollutant degradation. The better performance of *B. mutica* nevertheless indicates that different plants have different capacity of effective plant-microbe interplay which should be investigated carefully before designing an experiment. In the end, this study strengthens the application of pollutant degrading bacteria in FTW for the remediation of water contaminated with organic compounds. Nevertheless, further studies on the activity of enzymes alkyl sulfatases for the degradation of SDS are suggested.

**Author Contributions:** Writing—original draft preparation, M.Y., Z.Z., E.I., M.T. and S.I.; writing— review and editing, M.A., E.I., and M.R.; supervision, M.A. and M.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, gran<sup>t</sup> number 20-3854/R&D/HEC/14/918).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
