Two newly published studies from Trinity College Dublin scientists show fungicides can rapidly drive soil microbes to evolve multidrug resistance to clinically important drugs and, when combined with warmer temperatures, disrupt soil microbes in ways that negatively affect plant growth.
In one study, just published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, the scientists found that fungicides can drive the spread of multidrug resistance in soil bacteria. This refutes the common assumption that misuse and overuse of antibiotics are the nearly sole factors driving the antimicrobial resistance pandemic and instead underlines that fungicides are probably very important too.
In controlled laboratory experiments, the scientists exposed soil communities to Fubol Gold, a common fungicide formulation, under varying conditions for 16 weeks. Fubol Gold is now banned in Ireland (and the EU) but was previously common and is likely still present in soils there.