A microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland (planted with Ipomoea aquatica) system (planted CW-MFC) was used for azo dye decolorization. Electricity was simultaneously produced during the co-metabolism process of glucose and azo dye. A non-planted and an open-circuit system were established as reference to study the roles of plants and electrodes in azo dye decolorization and electricity production processes, respectively. The results indicated that plants grown in cathode enhanced the cathode potential and slightly promoted dye decolorization efficiency. The electrodes promoted the dye decolorization efficiency in the anode. The planted CW-MFC system achieved the highest decolorization rate of about 91.24% and a voltage output of about 610 mV. The connection of external circuit promoted the growth of electrogenic bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens and Beta Proteobacteria, and inhibited the growth of Archaea in anode. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.