The tomato-potato psyllid (TPP), Bactericera cockerelli, a significant pest native to North America, has spread globally, causing severe damage to potato crops. It transmits the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso), leading to diseases like zebra chip or purple top disease in potatoes. With no resistant cultivars available, farmers heavily rely on insecticides, which are often ineffective. In response, field screenings were conducted in Northern Peru and other Latin American regions to evaluate the susceptibility of commercial and traditional potato varieties to TPP.

The study involved 32 accessions from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina, selected based on factors like geography, morphology, and genetic distance. During the 2023 growing season, these accessions faced natural TPP infestation, resulting in widespread purple top symptoms, an indicator of Lso disease. However, four accessions, specifically from the subspecies S. tuberosum subsp. andigena from Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, showed lower disease incidences. Tuber samples from these accessions also demonstrated better French fry quality, suggesting lower TPP impact and Lso infection.

Disclaimer: This is a subset created from an on-going evaluation experiment and needs to be treated as preliminary data subject to validation and potential change.