This presentation will help producers, agricultural professionals, and others in the North Central region of the United States and other potato-producing areas recognize and manage the phytoplasma disease purple top in potatoes. This presentation will discuss the biology of the phytoplasma that causes purple top and its insect vector, the aster leafhopper, as well as potential management of the disease in potato production. The disease, its symptoms, and its impacts are reviewed and the epidemiology resulting from the life history, distribution, and movement of the vector–pathogen complex is presented.
