CELL BIOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT Volume 2, Number 1, June 2018 E-ISSN: 2580-4499 Pages: 8-14 DOI: 10.13057/cellbioldev/v020102 Morphological and cytological analysis of yellow skin dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus) ARI SETYOWATI, SUKAYA, ENDANG YUNIASTUTI ♥ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java, Indonesia. Tel.: +62-271-637457, ♥ email: yuniastutisibuea@staff.uns.ac.id Manuscript received: 7 January 2018. Revision accepted: 3 March 2018. Abstract. Setyowati A, Sukaya, Yuniastuti E. 2018. Morphological and cytological analysis of yellow skin dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus). Cell Biol Dev 2: 8-14. Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit that has the potential to be developed. Information on morphological and cytological characters of dragon fruit plants is still small and simple, so morphological and cytological analysis is necessary. The morphological and cytological analysis yielded useful information to support the dragon fruit plant breeding program. This study aims to study the morphological and cytological characteristics (karyotype) of the yellow skin dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus (Schum. ex Vaupel) Moran). This study took samples from "Kusumo Wanadri Agrotourism" Glagah Indah Beach, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Chromosomal identification was carried out at the Plant Breeding Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. The research was carried out from December 2006 to June 2008. The methods used were field observations and treatment methods in water for 24 hours at a temperature of 5-8ºC, fixation in 45% acetic acid solution for 2 hours at a temperature of 5-8ºC, and hydrolysis in an aqueous solution. One (1) N HCl for 3-4 minutes at 60ºC, staining in 2% aceto-orcein solution for 24 hours at 5-8ºC and squashing. Morphological and cytological data were analyzed and presented descriptively. The morphology of the plant S. megalanthus is a white thread-shaped root with a fibrous plant root system. The stem is a smooth, faceted wet stem with concave edges. The fruit is oval, surrounded by short spines, the skin is yellow, and the flesh is white. The S. megalanthus has a tetraploid chromosome 2n = 4X = 44 with a chromosome length ranging from 2 + 0.098 m to 4.75 + 0.98 m. The karyotype formula for the S. megalanthus chromosome 2n = 4X = 44 = 40 m + 4 sm. Keywords: Cytology, morphology, Selenicereus megalanthus INTRODUCTION Dragon fruit plants originating from Central and South America have not been widely cultivated. This plant has only been cultivated intensively in several countries such as Israel, Colombia, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Australia (Lichtenzveig et al. 2000). Dragon fruit plants have tufts that resemble dragon scales. This plant is a vine-shaped tree with thorns that grow along the tendrils and look unique, especially if the fruit has appeared on the tendrils. At first, this plant was only used as an ornamental plant. However, after it was discovered that the fruit was delicious to eat, it started to be cultivated as a fruit crop. Dragon fruit can be consumed in fresh or processed form. Dragon fruit has a fairly high nutritional and water content of about 90.20% of the fruit weight (Kristanto 2003; Aji et al. 2013). In addition, it tastes quite sweet because the sugar in the fruit is quite high. Besides being cultivated as a fruit plant, dragon fruit is also cultivated as a medicinal plant because it has properties for human health. These benefits include: balancing blood sugar, preventing colon cancer, protecting oral health, reducing cholesterol, preventing bleeding, and treating vaginal discharge complaints. This plant was recognized and cultivated in Indonesia in 2000. However, the development of this plant cultivation is very slow, even though Indonesia's climatic conditions are very supportive of the development of this plant. In 2006, there were only a few areas that cultivated this plant, namely Malang, Kediri, Tawangmangu, Semarang, and Kulon Progo, with various planting areas. In recent years, after it was discovered that dragon fruit has medicinal properties, dragon fruit cultivation continues to be carried out because it is very profitable. However, the cultivation of yellow skin dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus (Schum. ex Vaupel) Moran). is still rarely done. It is because S. megalanthus requires an environment to grow in the highlands, in contrast to other types of dragon fruit cultivated in the lowlands. Introducing dragon fruit plants based on morphological and cytological characters will greatly support the success of the dragon fruit plant breeding program. However, until now, knowledge of dragon fruit plants' morphological and cytological characteristics is still small and simple. By knowing with certainty the morphological and cytological characteristics of a plant, genetic information of a plant can be known so that appropriate methods can be sought for its development and cultivation. There are 2 genera of dragon fruit cultivated in Indonesia, namely Hylocereus and Selenicereus. The dragon fruit cultivated is dragon fruit from the genus Hylocereus, namely H. undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose (white flesh), H. polyrhizus (F.A.C.Weber) Britton & Rose (dark red flesh), and H. costaricensis (F.A.C.Weber) Britton & Rose (pink flesh), which are all diploid plants