Selected Publications

Publications under review

Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Hiti-Bandaralage, J., and Pathirana, R. (2025). Combe Harnessing Metabolites from Plant Cell and Tissue Culture for Sustainable Biotechnology (in prep).
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., and Hasitha Premathilake. (2025). Mass Spectrometry-Based Multi-Omics for Extracellular Vesicles/Exosomes in Biotechnological Applications (in prep).
Isaac, K.S., Leb, P. M., Street, T., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., and Sokolenko, S. (2025). Advancing Quantitative NMR for High-Precision Isotopic Analysis with rnmrfit 2.0. Analytical Chemistry.

Peer-reviewed Scientific Journal Articles

Biochemistry and Omics

Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Isaac, K.S., Combe, M., Hume, S., and Sokolenko, S. (2025). Re-imagining Human Cell Culture Media: Challenges, Innovations, and Future Directions. Biotechnology Advances, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2025.108564.
Pri-Tal, O., Sun, Y., Dadras, A., Fürst-Jansen, J.M.R., Zimran, G., Michaeli, D., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Shpilman, M., Merilo, E., Yarmolinsky, D., Efroni, I., de Vries, J., Kollist, H. and Mosquna, A. (2024), Constitutive activation of ABA receptors in Arabidopsis reveals unique regulatory circuitries. New Phytol, 241: 703-714. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19363.
Li, L., Lee, C. P., Ding, X., Qin, Y., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Broda, M., Otegui, M. S., Ganguly, D.R., Pogson, B.J., and Millar. H. (2022). Defects in autophagy lead to selective in vivo changes in turnover of cytosolic and organelle proteins in roots and shoots of Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, koac185, https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac185
Li, L., Duncan, O., Ganguly, D.R., Lee, C.P., Crisp, P., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Pogson, B.J., Salih, K., - Trosch, J., Millar, A.H., and Pogson, B.J. (2022). Metabolic enzymes degraded under high light stress - maintain their proteostasis by coupled transcriptional regulation in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(20) e2121362119.doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121362119
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Signorelli, S., Fenske, R., Ganguly, D.R., Stroeher, F., Li,L., Pogson, B.J., Duncan, O., and Millar. H. (2021). Autophagy mutants show delayed chloroplast development during de-etiolation in carbon limiting conditions. The Plant Journal. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15452
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Stroeher, E., Fenske,R., Li, L., Duncan, O., and Millar, H. (2020). Proteomics for Autophagy Receptor and Cargo Identification in Plants. J. Proteome Res. American Chemical Society. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00609

Biotechnology

Carra, A., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Pathirana, R., & Carimi, F. (2024). Development and applications of somatic embryogenesis in grapevine (Vitis spp.). Plants, 13(22), 3131. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223131
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Bishnoi, R., Ranawaka, B., Magar, M.M., Rehman, H.U., Bharad, S.G., Lorenc, M.T., Ramtekey, V., Gohar, S., Lata, C. and Harun-Or-Rashid, M., Razzaq, M., Sajjad, M., and Basnet, B.R. (2023). Rice–wheat comparative genomics: Gains and gaps. The Crop Journal, 12(3), 656-669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2023.10.008
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., and Hiti-Bandaralage, J. 2023. Tissue Culture—A Sustainable Approach to Explore Plant Stresses. Life, 13(3), 780. https://doi.org/10.3390/life13030780
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Ramtekey, V., Ranawaka, B., Basnet, B.R. (2022). Applications of In Vitro Tissue Culture Technologies in Breeding and Genetic Improvement of Wheat. Plants, 11(17):2273. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11172273
Sun, Y., Harpazi, B., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Merilo, E., de Vries, J., Michaeli, D., Gal, M., Cuming, A., - Kollist, H. and Mosquna, A. (2019). A ligand-independent origin of abscisic acid perception. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. National Academy of Sciences. 116 (49) 24892-24899.doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914480116
Wijerathna-Yapa, A. (2017). Transgenic plants: resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. JAEID, 111 (1): 245-275.doi: https://doi.org/10.12895/jaeid.20171.643
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. and Kumarihami H.M.P.C. (2016). Effects of Different Hormonal Concentrations and - Culture Medium on Multiplication and Rooting of Stage II Banana (Musa cavendishii). Not Sci Biol, 8(1):69-72. doi: https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb819749
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. (2015). Marker-Assisted Selection: Biotechnology Tool for Rice Molecular Breeding. Adv Crop Sci Tech 3: 187. doi:10.4172/2329-8863.1000187.
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. (2015). Application of Biotechnology in Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.): Sri Lanka. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 25(1): 103‐116. doi: https://doi.org/10.3329/ptcb.v25i1.24130
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M., Perera, A.N.K.,Hamamah,I.B. and Hoang Long. (2015). Application of PCR and MAS: - Potential Use for Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Rice Germplasm in Breeding Programs in Developing Countries. Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 38 (2): 161 – 174. JTAS-0613-2014
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M., Kottearachchi, N.S.,Gimhani, D.R. and Sirisena, D.N. (2014). Exploration of Relationship between Fragrant Gene and Growth Performances of Fragrant Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Seedlings under Salinity Stress. Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences. 2 (1):7-12.Corpus ID: 81504175
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. (2012). Advances of Basic Molecular Biology Techniques: Potential to Apply in Plant - Viroid Detection in Sri Lanka. eSci J. Plant Pathol. 01: 88 – 93.doi: 10.33687/phytopath.001.01.0020
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M., Kottearachchi, and Attanayaka, D.P.S.T.G. (2012). Assessment of Inter and Intra Cultivar Genetic and Phenotypic Variation in Grain Quality Characteristics of Sri Lankan Traditional Aromatic Rice (Oryza Sativa L.). Tropical Agriculturist. 160: 123 - 133.

Policy and Agriculture

Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Henry, R.J., Dunn, M. and Beveridge, C.A., (2023). Science and opinion in decision making: A case study of the food security collapse in Sri Lanka. Modern Agriculture. 1: 142 -151. https://doi.org/10.1002/moda.18
Beveridge, C. A., Rameau, C., and Wijerathna-Yapa, A.. (2023). Learnings from a century of apical dominance research. Journal of Experimental Botany, erad137-erad137. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad137
Valladares García, A. P., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Mishra, S., Or-Rashid, H., Nehra, M., Ramtekey, V., Ndah, R., Magar, M. M., Opondo, D., Sasha, Kumar, S., Swati, Tenesi, T., Bentley, A. R., & Basnet, B. R. (2022). In the pursuit of equality for women plant breeders around the world. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7385758
Wijerathna-Yapa, A.,and Pathirana, R. (2022). Sustainable Agro-Food Systems for Addressing Climate Change and Food Security. Agriculture, 12(10), 1554. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101554
Wijerathna-Yapa, A. (2017). Effect on Biodrying and Rapid Drying of Food Wastes for Biochar Manufacturing. - Agri Res & Tech 7 (5), 555722.doi:10.19080/ARTOAJ.2017.07.555722
Kumarihami H.M.P.C., Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M., Beneragama, C.K. (2017). Extending the postharvest life of cut - flowers with floral preservative: mini review. Proceedings of the National Symposium on Floriculture - Research, Department of National Botanic Gardens, Sri Lanka. 52-60.

Theses and Reports

Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. 2020. Unravelling the Underlying Components of Autophagy-mediated Photomorphogenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana. (Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Western Australia). https://doi.org/10.26182/2hpj-7605
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. 2016. Analysis of Constitutively Active Pyrabactin Resistance1/Pyr1-like (pyl) Receptors in Early Development of Arabidopsis thaliana (M.Sc. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem). https://www.nli.org.il/en/dissertations/NNL_ALEPH003951886/NLI
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M. 2012. Application of Biotechnology in Intra Cellular Pathogen Diagnostic of Coconut - (Cocos nucifera L.) in Sri Lanka. Report on In-plant Training Programme. The Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.

Preprints

Li, L., Duncan, O., Ganguly, D.R., Lee, C.P., Crisp, P., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Pogson, B.J., Salih, K., - Trosch, J., Millar, A.H., and Pogson, B.J. (2021). Metabolic enzymes degraded under high light stress - maintain their proteostasis by coupled transcriptional regulation in Arabidopsis. bioRxiv.doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.03.462903
Li, L., Lee, C. P., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Broda, M., Otegui, M. S., Ganguly, D.R., Pogson, B.J., and Millar. H. (2021). Defects in autophagy lead to selective in vivo changes in turnover of cytosolic and organelle proteins in roots and shoots of Arabidopsis. bioRxiv.doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.29.441983
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Signorelli, S., Fenske, R., Ganguly, D.R., Stroeher, F., Li,L., Pogson, B.J., Duncan, O., and Millar. H. (2021). Autophagy promotes photomorphogenesis during seedling development in Arabidopsis in carbon limiting conditions. bioRxiv.doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.437007

Conference Papers

Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Fortuna, N., Cooper, M. and Beveridge, C. A. 2023. Prior knowledge-driven branching phenotype prediction for shoot architecture improvement. Prior knowledge-driven branching phenotype prediction for shoot architecture improvement. ComBio 2022, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCE), 27-30 September 2022.
Fortuna, N. Z., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., and Beveridge, C. A. 2023 Modelling hormone signalling networks to better predict branching phenotypes. ComBio 2022, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), 27-30 September 2022.
Signorelli, S., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Fenske, R., Ganguly, D.R., Stroeher, F., Li,L., Pogson, B.J., Duncan, O., and Millar. H. 2022. Methylglyoxal catabolism is induced in autophagy mutants during photomorphogenesis. ASPB Plant Biology 2022, Portland, OR. United States, 9-13 July 2022. The American Society of Plant Biologists.
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Fenske, R., Li, L., Petereit, P., Cao, H., Stroher, E., Duncan, O,Millar, A.H. 2019. Application of Proteomics Techniques to Organelle Abundance Profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana Autophagy Mutants. Abstract presented at the ARC CoE in Plant Energy Biology Annual Forum 2019. The Alpine Hotel Thredbo Australia. June 4th - 6th 2019.
Duncan, O., Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Millar, A.H. Protein synthesis and degradation in the night and day: how cycling abundances are established and maintained. 2019. Abstract presented at the ARC CoE in Plant Energy - Biology Annual Forum 2019. The Alpine Hotel Thredbo, Australia. June 4th - 6th 2019.
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Fenske, R., Li, L., Millar, A.H. 2018. Targeted Proteomics for Organelle Abundance Profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana Autophagy Mutants. Abstract presented at the ARC CoE in Plant Energy Biology Annual Forum 2018. Novotel Swan Valley Vines Resort, Australia. September 11th - 13th 2018.
Wijerathna-Yapa, A., Mosquna, A. 2015. Screening an Arabidopsis cDNA Library for Interactor Proteins of Cyclase. The 2nd Pears Foundation Alumni Symposium in Plant Sciences. The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Environment in Rehovot, Israel, from September 7th - 9th 2015.
Wijerathna, Y.M.A.M., Kottearachchi, N.S., Gimhani, D.R. and Sirisena, D.N. 2011. Sri Lankan Fragrant Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Varieties are Associated with Decreased Salt Tolerance. In: Proceedings of 11th - Agricultural Research Symposium, 20th -21st September 2011, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, 51-55.

Magazine Articles

Akila Wijerathna. Agroforestry to the Fore. December 2024. 212.
Akila Wijerathna. Smart Farming Revolution. LMD. November 2024. 172.
Akila Wijerathna. Sustainability at the core. LMD. October 2024. 204.
Akila Wijerathna. Reshaping the Rural Economy. LMD. September 2024. 135.
Akila Wijerathna. Rise of Urban Farms. LMD. August 2024. 145.
Akila Wijerathna. Revitalized Farming systems. LMD. July 2024. 175.
Akila Wijerathna. Green future on the Line. LMD. June 2024. 135.
Akila Wijerathna. The Advent of Tech Farming. LMD. May 2024. 142.
Akila Wijerathna. Eco-Friendly Agri Exports. LMD. April 2024. 157.
Akila Wijerathna. Crops under the Weather. LMD. March 2024. 157.
Akila Wijerathna. Adopt Precision Farm Tech. February 2024. 129.
Akila Wijerathna. Rich Local Food Systems. LMD. January 2024. 140.
Akila Wijerathna. Preserve Crop Diversity LMD. December 2022. 187.
Akila Wijerathna. Mitigating Global Hunger. LMD. November 2023. 135.
Akila Wijerathna. Precision Farming Mantra. LMD. October 2023. 142.
Akila Wijerathna. Global Food Security Pangs. LMD. September 2023. 205.
Akila Wijerathna. Champions of Sustainability. LMD. August 2023. 133.
Akila Wijerathna. Smallholder Diversification. LMD. July 2023. 179.
Akila Wijerathna. Climate Smart Farming. LMD. June 2023. 134.
Akila Wijerathna. Sustainable Urban Gardens. LMD. May 2023. 125.
Akila Wijerathna. Crops Prop Food Security. LMD. April 2023. 140.
Akila Wijerathna. Smallholders’ major roles. LMD. March 2023. 184.
Akila Wijerathna. Wanted: Agronomy Measures. February 2023. 143.
Akila Wijerathna. Risk of Worldwide Hunger. LMD. January 2023. 131
Akila Wijerathna. Farming needs reimagining. LMD. December 2022. 141.
Akila Wijerathna. Climate and Agriculture. LMD. November 2022. 138.
Akila Wijerathna. Zero Hunger — The End Goal. LMD. October 2022. 135.
Akila Wijerathna. Farming without farmland. LMD. September 2022. 148.
Akila Wijerathna. Flowering of a Green Idea. LMD. August 2022. 147.
Akila Wijerathna. Farming and Supply Chains. LMD. July 2022. 178.
Akila Wijerathna. Big Challenges Small Farms. LMD. June 2022. 142.
Akila Wijerathna. Going Green: The smart way. LMD. May 2022. 124.
Akila Wijerathna. Gains from the Smart Farming. LMD. April 2022. 114.
Akila Wijerathna. Biotechnology’s Golden Era. LMD. March 2022. 183.
Akila Wijerathna. Piggybacking on Agriculture. LMD. February 2022. 137.
Akila Wijerathna. Supply Chain Disruptions. LMD. January 2022. 144.
Akila Wijerathna. Post-COVID food security. LMD. December 2021. 184.
Akila Wijerathna. Pest control in Agri-Food. LMD. November 2021. 115.
Akila Wijerathna. AI and Climate Emergencies. LMD. October 2021. 69.
Akila Wijerathna. Bio-based farm economy. LMD. September 2021. 132.
Akila Wijerathna. Bridging the Gender Gap. LMD. August 2021. 138.
Akila Wijerathna. Climate Crisis and Farming. LMD. July 2021. 174.
Akila Wijerathna. Indoor Farming Takes Root. LMD. June 2021. 126.
Akila Wijerathna. Green Energy for Crops. LMD. May 2021. 144.
Akila Wijerathna. Mitigating farming risks. LMD. April 2021. 137.
Akila Wijerathna. Protecting the Planet. LMD. March 2021. 155.
Akila Wijerathna. The Urban-Rural Divid. LMD. February 2021. 117.
Akila Wijerathna. Innovating for Security. LMD. January 2021. 150.
Akila Wijerathna. Next Generation Production. LMD. December 2020. 132.
Akila Wijerathna. Combating land degradation. LMD. November 2020. 129.
Akila Wijerathna. Resourceful conservation in the agriculture sector. LMD. October 2020. 122.
Akila Wijerathna. The food system woes unearthed by the pandemic. LMD. - September 2020. 164.
Akila Wijerathna. The pursuit of equality. LMD. August 2020. 144.
Akila Wijerathna. Ecological Intensification. LMD. July 2020. 128.
Akila Wijerathna. The Farming Transformation. LMD. - June 2020. 116.
Akila Wijerathna. Next Generation Farming. LMD. - May 2020. 116.
Akila Wijerathna. Smallholder development. LMD. - April 2020. 150.
Akila Wijerathna. Climate Change Proofing. LMD. March 2020. 160.
Akila Wijerathna. Dispels umpteen misconceptions associated with agriculture. LMD. February 2020. 142.
Akila Wijerathna. Sustainable Collaboration to develop a sustainable global food system. LMD. - January 2020. 190.
Akila Wijerathna. The Smallholder Challenge. LMD. December 2019. 174.
Akila Wijerathna. Agro’s Digital Revolution. LMD. November 2019. 176.
Akila Wijerathna. Investing in Development. LMD. October 2019. 169.
Akila Wijerathna. Sustainable Transformation. - LMD. September 2019. 145.
Akila Wijerathna. Unpeels the economic benefits of commercializing a fruit!. LMD. August 2019. 136.
Akila Wijerathna. The Gender Gap in Farming. LMD. July 2019. 193.
Akila Wijerathna. Develop Genetic Diversity. LMD. - June 2019. 167.
Akila Wijerathna. Genetically Engineered DNA. LMD. May 2019. 171.
Akila Wijerathna. Growing Community Gardens. LMD. April 2019. 139.
Akila Wijerathna. The Food Security Crunch. LMD. March 2019. 155.
Akila Wijerathna. The Rise of Smart Foods. LMD. February 2019. 168.
Akila Wijerathna. Rescue Act for Food Waste. LMD. January 2019. 160.
Akila Wijerathna. Crop Protection Solutions. LMD. December 2018. 168.
Akila Wijerathna. Untapped Biotech Potential. LMD. November 2018. 197.
Akila Wijerathna. Holistic Farming Practice. LMD. October 2018. 181.
Akila Wijerathna. The Maze of Biotechnology. LMD. September 2018. 181.
Akila Wijerathna. Post Harvest Losses. LMD. August 2018. 175.
Akila Wijerathna. Organic Farming. LMD. July 2018. 229.
Akila Wijerathna. Digital Farming. LMD. June 2018. 172.
Akila Wijerathna. The Science of Sharing. LMD. May 2018. 213.
Akila Wijerathna. Saving the Plants from Stress. LMD. April 2018. 166.
Akila Wijerathna. The Future of Agriculture. LMD. March 2018. 202.
Akila Wijerathna. Waste from Green Field. LMD. February 2018. 172.
Akila Wijerathna. Family Farming: Breaking the Cycle. LMD. January 2018. 178.
Akila Wijerathna. Floriculture Sector. LMD. December 2017:198.
Akila Wijerathna. Agriculture Revival: Organic Farming. LMD. November 2017:235.
Akila Wijerathna. The Fruits of Agriculture. LMD. October 2017:209.
Akila Wijerathna. Food Safety: Critical Conscience. LMD. August 2017:182.
Akila Wijerathna. Farm Biodiversity: Shared Responsibility. LMD. July 2017:165.
Akila Wijerathna. Urban Ecosystems: The Trees of City Life. LMD. June 2017:206.
Akila Wijerathna. Food Safety: Better Safe Than Sorry. LMD. May 2017:174.
Akila Wijerathna. Farmers’ Markets. LMD. April 2017:194.
Akila Wijerathna. Small Holder Agriculture. LMD. March 2017: 182.
Akila Wijerathna. Women in Farming. LMD. February 2017: 206.
Akila Wijerathna. Start-up Farming. LMD. January 2017: 190.
Akila Wijerathna. Future-Ready Farming Techniques. LMD. December 2016: 222.
Akila Wijerathna. The Seed of Organic Farming. LMD. November 2016: 220.
Akila Wijerathna. Urban Agriculture. LMD. Oct 2016: 220.
Akila Wijerathna. Smart Agriculture: Inclusive farming. LMD. Sep 2016: 203.
Akila Wijerathna. Empowering Farmers. LMD. August 2016: 210.
Akila Wijerathna. Farming for Tomorrow. LMD. July 2016: 236.
Akila Wijerathna. Crop Enabler: Genetic Engineering. LMD. June 2016: 222.
Akila Wijerathna. Biotech Ethics: Roadblocks to Research. LMD. May 2016: 187.
Akila Wijerathna. Farming Boost From Biotech. LMD. April 2016: 182.
Akila Wijerathna. Biodynamic Agriculture. LMD. March 2016: 212.
Akila Wijerathna. Harnessing Biotech for Livestock. LMD. February 2016: 195.
Akila Wijerathna. The Bio-Economy. LMD. January 2016: 185.
Akila Wijerathna. Unravels the truth behind GMO. LMD. December 2015: 233.
Akila Wijerathna. Sowing the seeds of productivity. LMD. November 2015: 174.
Akila Wijerathna. BIOTECH for Business. LMD. October 2015: 166.
Akila Wijerathna. The Ethics of Food Supply. LMD. September 2015: 193.
Akila Wijerathna. Protecting the Planet Earth. LMD. August 2015: 182.
Akila Wijerathna. Tree Conservation: Blooming City. LMD. July 2015: 192.
Akila Wijerathna. Farm tourism: regenerating tourism. LMD. June 2015: 195.
Akila Wijerathna. Unearth development in rice biotechnology. LMD. May 2015: 166.
Akila Wijerathna. In Search of Zero Waste. LMD. - March 2015: 169.