AACHEN, Germany, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A fungus killing rubber trees in Southeast Asia and South Africa is forcing scientists to re-examine latex from dandelions, German researchers said.

The infection is so widespread in South America that large-scale rubber cultivation has nearly come to a standstill, said researchers who fear the natural latex industry worldwide could collapse if the fungus becomes a global epidemic.

Researchers looking for alternatives are analyzing the Russian dandelion, used during World War II to make natural latex, which is used in everything from car tires and catheter tubes to latex gloves and tops for drink bottles.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, in Aachen, Germany, have genetically modified the Russian dandelion to obtain four to five times more latex than would normally seep from a dandelion, Dr. Dirk Prufer said.

So far, the dandelion latex has not caused any of the allergies seen in rubber obtained from trees, which would make it ideal for hospital use, he said.