Exogenous microbial antagonism affects the bioaugmentation of humus formation under different inoculation using Trichoderma reesei and Phanerochaete chrysosporium

[Display omitted] •P.c and T.r co-inoculation promoted lignin degradation, HLS and HLA production.•P.c applied post two days of T.r inoculation obtained higher HLS.•Brucella and Bacillus were the main HLA bacterial producers.•Phanerochaete was the HLA fungal producer.•Trichoderma mainly helped transform FLA and polyphenol. This study was aimed at exploring the effect of antagonism of Trichoderma reesei (T.r) and Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P.c) on humification during fermentation of rice (RS) and canola straw (CS). Results showed that exogeneous fungi accelerated straw degradation and enzyme activities of CMCase, xylanase and LiP. P.c inhibited the activity of LiP when co-existing with T.r beginning, it promoted the degradation of lignin and further increased the production of humus-like substances (HLS) and humic-like acid (HLA) in later fermentation when nutrients were insufficient. The HLS of RTP was 54.9 g/kg RS, higher than the other treatments, and displayed more complex structure and higher thermostability. Brucella and Bacillus were the main HLA bacterial producers. P.c was the HLA fungal producer, while T.r assisted FLA and polyphenol transformation. Therefore, RTP was recommended to advance technologies converting crop straw into humus resources.