Conservation of Aquilaria malaccensis Lam. germplasm

The study mainly focused on the development of protocols for conservation of Aquilaria malaccensis germplasm through in vitro propagation. A successful in vitro propagation protocol, in general, provides a platform for large scale production of plant materials. Aquilaria malaccensis is a tropical recalcitrant seeded tree that propagates only through seeds under conventional conditions. The tree produces seeds only once in a year i.e. seed production is seasonal in nature. The heartwood of the tree is of high demand in the commercial market since it produces an exceedingly aromatic resin called 'agarwood', after infection by an endophytic fungus. The market value of agarwood ranges from about US$ 9700 to 32,000 per kilogram approximately and such high commercial value attracts the traders towards agarwood business as full time occupation, because of which illegal harvest is being carried out from the natural habitat. However, the sign and symptoms of agarwood formation is unable to detect through morphological observations, so most of the time agarwood traders sacrifice the whole tree in search of infected heartwood, and in the process many uninfected trees are being destroyed.