Summary

Gyrinops walla Gaertner., which is an endemic fragrance producing resinous plant grown only in wet zone of Sri Lanka is a member of family Thymelaeaceae and commonly known as Walla Patta (Jayaweera, 1982). Agarwood extracted from Gyrinops species has its unique fragrance and therefore widely used as an ingredient in traditional medicine, world class perfumery, cosmetic industries, incenses, aroma therapy, and preservatives of accessories. In the international market one kilogram of agar wood resin is worth Rs7.8millions. With the increase of international demand, over-exploitation of the species resulted over the past decade. Consequently Gyrinops walla was included in IUCN red data list of the year 2011 as vulnerable and at the verge of extinction from the natural forests (www.iucnredlist.org.).

The propose study suggest to develop a rapid multiplication technique for Gyrinops walla as well as production of the valuable chemicals through plant cell and tissue culture technique. If the research is completed successfully results can be used to conserve the species through rapid multiplication as well as utilizing it commercially.

Furthermore, this study will produce an MPhil degree by the end of the third year. The proposed student is currently a probationary lecturer attached to the University of Jaffna. Sri Lanka. She is an asset to the university system in Sri Lanka and will defiantly be able to disseminate the knowledge gathered during her training to the graduate and undergraduate students strengthening the science and technology capacity in Sri Lanka.

Objectives

1. Overall Objective

   To develop rapid multiplication technique and to develop a technique for secondary metabolites production of Gyrinops walla by plant cell and tissue culture techniques.

    

   Specific Objectives

   1. Development of a rapid multiplication technique for Gyrinops walla plants
   2. To develop method for secondary metabolite production for Gyrinops walla using cell culture techniques
   3. To study the methodology to extract and analyze the secondary metabolic compounds of walla

Major Equipment Facilitated by Grant