Peanut residue in the soil is considered to be an obstacle to peanut replanting. We aimed to understand the effect of applying an endophytic fungus [Phomopsis liquidambari (B3)]on accelerating peanut residue decay, improving the micro-ecological environment in the soil, and alleviating an obstacle to peanut replanting as well as its possible mechanism. We investigated the dynamics of peanut residue decay, phenolic acid concentrations, and enzyme activities during peanut growth in a pot experiment, where peanut residues were added into soil. Results showed that applying endophytic fungus B3 (treatment B3+) significantly accelerated the decay of peanut residue at the peanut germination and seedling stages; the decay rate increased by 12.0%-14.7% and the degradation rate of cellulose and lignin increased by 13.7%-17.8% and 21.2%-26.0%, respectively, compared with controls (CK). From the flowering to maturation stages, the decay rate of peanut residues gradually decreased in treatment B3+, but remained higher than that in CK. In addition, the concentrations of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA), vanillic acid (VA), and p-coumaric acid (p-CA) in treatment B3+ were significantly greater than those in CK at the germination and seedling stages. This indicated that application of endophytic fungus B3 significantly promoted the release of phenolic acids during decay of peanut residues before the seedling stage.
The concentrations of the three kinds of phenolic acids in CK were much greater than those in treatment B3+ from flowering to maturation stages, which were critical stages for peanut formation and disease control; a high concentration of phenolic acids was harmful to peanut growth. In treatment B3+, the activities of laccase, manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase were all significantly greater than those in CK at the corresponding peanut growth period, and peanut pod yield increased by 19.9%, compared with CK. Increases in activities of soil enzymes, which were associated with decay of peanut residues in treatment B3+, should be beneficial to decay of peanut residues and accelerate conversion of harmful phenolic acid allelochemicals. However, there was no significant difference in the decay rate of peanut residues, phenolic acids concentrations, enzyme activities, and peanut pod yield between treatment B3 (applying sterilized endophytic fungus B3) and CK, indicating that the availability of the endophytic fungus B3 in soils is important. To further demonstrate the availability of B3 and its role in degradation of phenolic acids, a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique was used to monitor dynamics of endophytic fungus B3 during peanut growth. The biodegradability of B3 was also investigated in pure culture. The results showed that endophytic fungus B3 could adapt to a non-host environment and survive for about 30 d in soil containing higher amounts of peanut residues under natural conditions after detaching from its host. With 200 mg/L VA and p-CA as the sole carbon source, the degradation rate of VA for 96 h and p-CA for 120 h reached 99% after inoculation with B3, and the biomass of B3 increased gradually with time after inoculation. The results suggested that promoting the rapid degradation of peanut residues and regulating dynamics of phenolic acids should be important mechanisms for B3 to alleviate obstacles in peanut replanting.