disnar@agbio.ruh.ac.lk disnaratnasekera@gmail.com

+94 71 823 2808

+94 41 229 2383

Prof. Disna Ratnasekera

Senior Professor (Chair)

Department of Agricultural Biology,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna,
Mapalana, Kamburupitiya,
Sri Lanka (81100).

Research Interests

Qualifications

PhD in Plant Stress Physiology (2004-2007) | China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
M.Sc. in Agricultural Biology (1999-2002) | PGIA, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
B.Sc. in Agriculture (1991-1994) | University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka

Positions

Co-Director | CSL CER, University of Ruhuna

Biography

Prof. Disna Ratnasekera is a Chair Professor in the Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. She has been recognized as the Most Outstanding Scholar by the University of Ruhuna in 2025. Broadly, her teaching & research focus is on the Plant Stress Physiology, environmental interactions and impact of climate change on crops. Her research is based on high-quality science that contributes to increasing intellectual knowledge of plant function and improving the sustainability through cross-disciplinary research, bridging plant biology, physiology, biochemistry & molecular genetics.

Research Grants

Total: 9

01
PI — Identification of Germplasm Resources and Genomic Genetic Basis of Wild Rice Resistant to Rice Blast and Brown Planthopper in Sri Lanka; funded by National Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No: 32350710198; 1,600,000 RMB), 2024–2025.
02
Coordinator — Foreign Experts Driven Global Wild Rice Germplasm Resources Project, 2022–2023.
03
Team Leader — Develop integrated agro-biodiversity management courses at certificate, diploma and postgraduate levels (Sub project to UOR under Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation and Use in Sri Lanka Agro-Ecosystem for Livelihoods and Operation to Climate Change (BACC Project)); funded by UNEP/GEF – Bioversity, 2015–2019.
04
Team Leader — Species interaction among invasive Prosopis juliflora and other flora species in Bundala National Park (Sub project to UOR under GEF/UNDP project on ‘IAS in Sri Lanka’), 2014–2015.
05
PI — Study on the Origin and Evolutionary Genomics of Weedy Rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) in Sri Lanka for its Effective Management (NRC 2015).
06
Team Leader — Mainstreaming biodiversity for food and nutrition (Sub project to UOR under UNEP/GEF – Bioversity International), 2012–2013.
07
Team Leader — In-situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives through Enhanced Information Management and Field Application (Sub project to UOR under UNEP/GEF – Bioversity International), 2009–2011.
08
PI — Development of iron toxicity tolerant rice lines using anther culture (NARP 2011).
09
PI — Evolutionary divergence and genetic differentiation of weedy rice populations at local spatial scale (TURIS/UOR 2011).

Fellowships

Total: 7

01
Visiting Scientist of President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) (2022–2023) — China Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, China.
02
Fulbright Research & Teaching Professional Fellowship (2020) — University of California, Riverside, USA.
03
Borlaug Fellowship (2017) — Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
04
ICGEB Fellowship (2016) — Short Course on ‘RNA structure and function’, Trieste, Italy.
05
Endeavour Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2014) — University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia.
06
Netherlands Fellowship (NFP) (2010) — International course on Plant genetic resources and seeds: policies, conservation and use; Wageningen UR Center and MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, India.
07
Netherlands Fellowship (NFP) (2003) — Integrated Pest Management, IAC, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Journal Publications

Total: 21

Wijerathna, P., Chen, X., Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Cai, J., Cong, M., ... Zhou, X. (2026). Diverse and bioactive lactones from the Sri Lankan mangrove-derived fungus Talaromyces sp. SCSIO41445. Marine Drugs, 24(2), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/md24020080

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Wang, K., Long, J., Lei, J., Liang, Y., Ratnasekera, D., Qian, Q., & Zheng, X. (2025). Regional projections and sampling strategies for the global germplasm resources collection of Oryza rufipogon Griff. New Crops, 100101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncrops.2025.100101

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Tennakoon, A., Sandamal, S., Ge, S., Marambe, B., & Ratnasekera, D. (2023). Weedy rice: An insight into genetic diversity and population structure for effective weed management. Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension, 26(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.4038/tare.v26i2.5660

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Sandamal, S., Tennakoon, A., Wijerathna, P., Ge, S., Amarasekera, D. A. B. N., Marambe, B., ... Ratnasekera, D. (2022). Phenotypic characterization of Oryza nivara (Sharma et Shastry) collected from different ecological niches of Sri Lanka. Phyton, 91(6), 1269–1287. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.018983

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Kizilgeci, F., Yildirim, M., Islam, M. S., Ratnasekera, D., Iqbal, M. A., & El Sabagh, A. (2021). Normalized difference vegetation index and chlorophyll content for precision nitrogen management in durum wheat cultivars under semi-arid conditions. Sustainability, 13(7), 3725. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073725

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Ahmad, M., Waraich, E. A., Skalicky, M., Hussain, S., Zulfiqar, U., Anjum, M. Z., ... El Sabagh, A. (2021). Adaptation strategies to improve the resistance of oilseed crops to heat stress under a changing climate: An overview. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 767150. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.767150

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Awad, M., El-Desoky, M. A., Ghallab, A., Kubes, J., Abdel-Mawly, S. E., Danish, S., ... El Sabagh, A. (2021). Ornamental plant efficiency for heavy metals phytoextraction from contaminated soils amended with organic materials. Molecules, 26(11), 3360. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113360

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Sandamal, P. S., Tennakoon, A., Amarasekera, D. A. B. N., Marambe, B., & Ratnasekera, D. (2021). Functional trait diversity of wild rice species in Sri Lanka: Implications for field identification and application. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 49(3), 369. https://doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v49i3.10223

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Mangu, V. R., Ratnasekera, D., Yabes, J. C., Wing, R. A., & Baisakh, N. (2019). Functional screening of genes from a halophyte wild rice relative Porteresia coarctata in Arabidopsis model identifies candidate genes involved in salt tolerance. Current Plant Biology, 18, 100107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2019.100107

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Thompson, M., Gamage, D., Ratnasekera, D., Perera, A., Martin, A., & Seneweera, S. (2019). Effect of elevated carbon dioxide on plant biomass and grain protein concentration differs across bread, durum and synthetic hexaploid wheat genotypes. Journal of Cereal Science, 87, 103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2019.03.007

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El Sabagh, A., Hossain, A., Barutcular, C., Islam, M. S., Ratnasekera, D., Kumar, N., ... Teixeira da Silva, J. A. (2019). Drought and salinity stress management for higher and sustainable canola (Brassica napus L.) production: A critical review. Australian Journal of Crop Science, 13(1), 88–97. https://doi.org/10.21475/ajcs.19.13.01.p1284

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Sandamal, S., Tennakoon, A., Meng, Q.-L., Marambe, B., Ratnasekera, D., Melo, A., & Ge, S. (2018). Population genetics and evolutionary history of the wild rice species Oryza rufipogon and O. nivara in Sri Lanka. Ecology and Evolution, 8(23), 12056–12065. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4665

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Lachat, C., Raneri, J. E., Smith, K. W., Kolsteren, P., Van Damme, P., Verzelen, K., ... Termote, C. (2018). Dietary species richness as a measure of food biodiversity and nutritional quality of diets. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(1), 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1709194115

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Perera, U. I. P., Chandika, K. K. J., & Ratnasekera, D. (2017). Genetic variation, character association and evaluation of mungbean genotypes for agronomic and yield components. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 45(4), 347. https://doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v45i4.8228

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Ratnasekera, D. (2016). Factors contributing invasion of alien invasive species Prosopis juliflora in Bundala National Park in Sri Lanka. Journal of AgriSearch, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.21921/jas.v3i3.11379

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Zou, J.-J., Li, X.-D., Ratnasekera, D., Wang, C., Liu, W.-X., Song, L.-F., ... Wu, W.-H. (2015). Arabidopsis CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE8 and CATALASE3 function in abscisic acid-mediated signaling and H2O2 homeostasis in stomatal guard cells under drought stress. The Plant Cell, 27(5), 1445–1460. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.15.00144

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He, Z., Jiang, X., Ratnasekera, D., Grassi, F., Perera, U., & Lu, B.-R. (2014). Seed-mediated gene flow promotes genetic diversity of weedy rice within populations: Implications for weed management. PLoS ONE, 9(12), e112778. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112778

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Perera, U. I. P., Ratnasekera, D., Senanayake, S. G. J. N., & Abeysiriwardena, D. S. Z. (2014). Genetic parameters and correlations of yield attributing characteristics of weedy rice in Sri Lanka. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 42(4), 299. https://doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v42i4.7728

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Madurangi, S. A. P., Ratnasekera, D., Senanayake, S. G. J. N., Samarasinghe, W. L. G., & Hemachandra, P. V. (2013). Antixenosis and antibiosis effects of Oryza nivara accessions harbouring bph2 gene on brown planthopper [Nilaparvata lugens (Stal)]. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 41(2), 147. https://doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v41i2.5709

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Madurangi, S. A. P., Samarasinghe, W. L. G., Senanayake, S. G. J. N., Hemachandra, P. V., & Ratnasekera, D. (2011). Resistance of Oryza nivara and Oryza eichingeri derived lines to brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stal). Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, 39(2), 175. https://doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v39i2.3179

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Zou, J.-J., Wei, F.-J., Wang, C., Wu, J.-J., Ratnasekera, D., Liu, W.-X., & Wu, W.-H. (2010). Arabidopsis calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK10 functions in abscisic acid- and Ca2+-mediated stomatal regulation in response to drought stress. Plant Physiology, 154(3), 1232–1243. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.110.157545

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Books / Book Chapters

Total: 19

Gunasekera, D., & Ratnasekera, D. (2023). Chap. 19: Advancement in mitigating the effects of drought stress in wheat. In Khan, M.K., Pandey, A., Hamurcu, M., Gupta, O. P., Gezgin, S. (Ed.), Abiotic Stresses in Wheat (pp. 297-311). Academic Press.

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Carine Nono Temegne, Annie Stephanie Nana, Emmanuel Youmbi, M.S. Islam, Muhammad Aamir Iqbal, Muhammad Zahid Ihsan, Disna Ratnasekera, Celaluddin Barutcular, Ömer Konukan, & Ayman El Sabagh ( 2023 ). Chap. 01. New Opportunities for Nanotechnologies in Agriculture. In Ashwani Kumar and Ayman Elsabagh (Ed) Nanotechnology for Agriculture: A Potential Tool for Abiotic Stress Tolerance. CRP Press.

Dinoo Gunasekera, Disna Ratnasekera, Basharat Ali, Mohammad Sohidul Islam, Uzma Younis, Sharif Ahmed, Semih Açikbaþ, Nizamettin Turan, Seyithan Seydoþoðlu, & Ayman Elsabagh ( 2023 ). Chapter 04. Nano-Silicon-Mediated Abiotic Stress Resistance in Plants: Mechanisms of Stress Mitigation. In Ashwani Kumar and Ayman Elsabagh (Ed) Nanotechnology for Agriculture: A Potential Tool for Abiotic Stress Tolerance. CRP Press.

Asanka Tennakoon, G. A. H. Galahitigama, P. W. M. Tharindi, T. Suthajini, N. P. M. Abeysinghe, Salinda Sandamal, Karthika Rajendran, Adel A. Hadifa, Ayman El Sabagh, & Disna Ratnasekera ( 2023 ). Chap. 21: Accumulation and Toxicity of Arsenic in Rice and its Practical Mitigation in Climate-Resilient Agriculture, Vol 2, Agro-Biotechnological Advancement for Crop Production,463-499, Springer.

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Ogbaga, Chukwuma C, Habib-Ur-Rehman Athar, Disna Ratnasekera, Hussan Bano, Aneela Kanwal Shahzadi, Misbah Amir, Islam F. Hassan, Godswill Ntsombohntsefong, Nugun P. Jellason7, Jude A. Okolie, & Ayman El Sabagh ( 2023 ). Chap. 08: enhancing photosynthetic efficiency of crops through metabolic engineering and nano-formulations.

Ratnasekera, D., Kudagamage, C, Rajapakse, R, Wijayaratne, & L. K. W (2022). Chap. 05: Recent Advances and Current Status in the Rice Pest Management in Sri Lanka. In T. H. Askary (Ed.), Pest management: Methods, applications and challenges. New York, NY: Nova.

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Ratnasekera, D., Tennakoon, A, Sandamal, S, Wijerathna, & P (2022). Perception of Advanced Techniques in Conservation and Utilization of Wild Genetic Resources of Rice. In S. Ramamoorthy, I. J. Buot, & R. Chandrasekaran (Eds.), Plant Genetic Resources, inventory, collection and conservation. Singapore: Springer.

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Naz, M., Shah, T., Battaglia, M., Islam, M. S., Hossain, A., Iqbal, M. A., Ihsan, M. Z., Arif, M. T., Dubey, A., Raj, A., Kumar, A., Hakeem, K. R., Ratnasekera, D., Irfan, M., Pakyürek, M., Kumari, A., Javed, T., Shabbir, R., Arslan, H., Arslan, D., & Sabagh, A. E. L. (2022). Chap. 4: Insights into potential roles of plants as natural radioprotectants and amelioration of radiation's induced harmful impacts on human health in managing plant production under changing environment. In x (Ed.), Managing plant production under changing environment. Singapore: Springer.

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Monsur, M. B., Datta, J., Rohman, M. M., Hasanuzzaman, M., Hossain, A., Islam, M. S., Bukhari, M. A., Jabeen, T., Mubeen, M., Nasim, W., Rehman, A., Ratnasekera, D., Llanes, A., Athar, H. R., Iqbal, M. A., Ahmed, S., Gill, R. A., Hadifa, A., Ueda, A., Liyun, L., Skalicky, M., Brestic, M., Erman, M., Kaya, Y., & Sabagh, A. E. L. (2022). Chap. 12: Saline toxicity and antioxidant response in Oryza sativa : An updated review in managing plant production under changing environment. In x (Ed.), Managing plant production under changing environment. Singapore: Springer.

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Sabagh, E. L., A, Islam, M. S, Hossain, A, Iqbal, M. A, Rahman, M. H. U, Mansour, F, Wasaya, A, Ahmed, S, Singhal, R. K, Kumari, A, Kassahun, M, Danish, S, Hossain, M. A, Raza, M. A, Ratnasekera, D., Arif, M, Jabeen, T, Waleed, M, Fahad, S, Laing, A. M, Skalicky, M, Brestic, & M (2021). Advances in Input Management for Food and Environmental Security. In R. Bhatt, R. S. Meena, & A. Hossain (Eds.), Input Use Efficiency for Food and Environmental Security (pp. 1-6). Springer, Singapore.

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Sabagh, E. L., A, Islam, M. S, Iqbal, M. A, Hossain, A, Mubeen, M, Jabeen, T, Waleed, M, Wasaya, A, Ur Rahman, M. H, Ratnasekera, D., Arif, M, Raza, A, Danish, S, Kumari, A, Erman, M, Karademir, C, Karademir, E, Arslan, H, Raza, M. A, Fahad, & S (2021). Salinity stress in cotton: Adverse effects, survival mechanisms and management strategies. In H. Arslan (Ed.), Engineering tolerance in crop plants against abiotic stress (pp. 67-81). CRP Press.

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Naz, M., Islam, M. S., Iqbal, M. A., Oksana, S., Ratnasekera, D., Hossain, A., Mubeen, M., Rahim, J., Imran, M., Tahjib-Ul-Arif, M., Ahmed, S., Dubey, A., Kumar, A., Skalicky, M., & Brestic, M. (2021). Chapter 5: Role of Transporters during Heavy Metals Toxicity in Plants. In Engineering Tolerance in Crop Plants against Abiotic Stress. CRP Press.

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Sabagh, A. E. L., Hossain, A., Islam, M. S., Ahmed, S., Raza, A., Iqbal, M. A., Wasaya, A., Ratnasekera, D., Arshad, A., Kumari, A., Danish, S., Igboji, P. O., Datta, R., Oksana, S., Skalicky, M., Brestic, M., Singh, K., Raza, M. A., & Fahad, S. (2021). Chapter 7: Elevated CO2 in Combination with Heat Stress Influences the Growth and Productivity of Cereals: Adverse Effect and Adaptive Mechanisms. In Engineering Tolerance in Crop Plants against Abiotic Stress. CRP Press.

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Sabagh, A. E. L., Hossain, A., Islam, M. S., Iqbal, M. A., Amanet, K., Mubeen, M., Nasim, W., Wasaya, A., Llanes, A., Ratnasekera, D., Singhal, R. K., Kumari, A., Meena, R. S., Abdelhamid, M., Hasanuzzaman, M., Raza, M. A., Ozyazici, M. A., & Erman, M. (2021). Prospective Role of Plant Growth Regulators for Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses. In Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses (pp. 1-20). Springer Nature.

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Jayasinghe, G. G., Rajapakse, R. H. S., Kumara, K. L. W., Ratnasekera, D., & Adikaram, N. K. B. (2020). Chapter 8: Pests and Diseases of Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume). In Cinnamon: Botany, Agronomy, Chemistry and Industrial Applications. Senaratne, R. & Pathirana, R. (Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland.

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Sabagh, E. L., A, Hossain, A, Islam, M. S, Barutcular, C, Ratnasekera, D., Gormus, O, Amanet, K, Mubeen, M, Nasim, W, Fahad, S, Tariq, M, Llanes, A, Meena, R. S, Ueda, A, Saneoka, H, Erman, M, Hasanuzzaman, & M (2020). Drought and heat stress in cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.): Consequences and their possible mitigation strategies. In M. Hasanuzzaman (Ed.), Agronomic crops (pp. 1-30). Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Sabagh, E. L., A, Hossain, A, Islam, M. S, Iqbal, M. A, Fahad, S, Ratnasekera, D., Azeem, F, Wasaya, A, Sytar, O, Kumar, N, Llanes, A, Erman, M, Ceritoğlu, M, Arslan, H, Arslan, D, Hussain, S, Mubeen, M, Ikram, M, Meena, R. S, Gharib, H, Waraich, E, Nasim, W, Liu, L, Saneoka, & H (2020). Consequences and mitigation strategies of heat stress for sustainability of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) production under the changing climate. In A. Hossain (Ed.), Plant stress physiology (pp. 1-18). InTechOpen.

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Sabagh, E. L., A, Hossain, A, Islam, M. S, Fahad, S, Ratnasekera, D., Meena, R. S, Wasaya, A, Yasir, T. A, Ikram, M, Mubeen, M, Fatima, M, Nasim, W, Çı˘g, A, Çı˘g, F, Erman, M, Hasanuzzaman, & M (2020). Nitrogen fixation of legumes under the family Fabaceae: Adverse effect of abiotic stresses and mitigation strategies. In M. Hasanuzzaman et al. (Eds.), The plant family Fabaceae (pp. 1-30). Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Rajapakse, R. H. S., Ratnasekera, D., & Abeysinghe, S. (2016). Bio-pesticides research: Current status and future trends in Sri Lanka. In Agriculturally important microorganisms (pp. 219-234). Springer.

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