First Morphoanatomical and Cytogenetic Characterization of Picria fel-terrae Lour.: A Local Accession from Dairi Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Poguntano (Picria fel-terrae Lour.) plant has been widely recognized for its medicinal properties due to its bioactive compounds. However, fundamental biological studies, particularly on its phenological and cytogenetic characteristics, remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the vegetative morphology and karyotypic features of P. fel-terrae from Dairi Regency, North Sumatra, to provide a comprehensive cytogenetic database for future study and its potential applications. Morphological observations revealed that P. fel-terrae has ovate leaves with serrated margins (serratus) and anomocytic-type stomata. Chromosome analysis determined the somatic chromosome number of P. fel-terrae as 2n = 20. The ten chromosomal pairs varied in total length (CL), Relative Length (RL), and centromere position, resulting in diverse Centromeric Index (CI) values. Karyotype classification identified four chromosome types: metacentric, submetacentric, subtelocentric, and telocentric. The longest chromosome was 12.61 µm, while the shortest was 6.96 µm. The karyotype asymmetry index (AsK%) was 67.25%, indicating a predominantly asymmetric karyotype with chromosomes exhibiting varying centromere indices. The mean centromere index (XCl) of 0.28 suggests that P. fel-terrae chromosomes have relatively shorter short arms compared to their long arms. These findings provide the first cytogenetic report on P. fel-terrae from North Sumatra, serving as a valuable reference for further genetic, evolutionary, and conservation studies, as well as potential applications in plant breeding and medicinal research. This research showed that the morphoanatomical characteristic is similar to those in Linderniaceae: However, the cytogenetic characteristics of Poguntano (Picria fel-terrae Lour.) differ from the Linderniaceae in both the number and the types.