fungicide

These chemical products account for to a quarter of the world agricultural fungicide market, worth more than £3 billion per year.

They hope that their work will shed light on how fungicides that are routinely used to protect the bee hives will affect these microbes.

"If we find that these root acylsugars are effective at repelling harmful organisms, could they be bred into other nightshades, thereby helping plants grow without the need for harmful synthetic fungicides and pesticides?"

High concentrations of fungicides, however, may be harmful to the endocrine system, although more studies are necessary to understand just how dangerous they are to human health.

The four fungicides were found on the fruits and vegetables for which new data was available this year—blueberries, green beans, peaches, and pears—for some of them at high levels.