Services
Contract research and protocol development
Tissue culture protocol development, variety trials and propagation research for industry bodies, breeders, nurseries and research partners in Australia. Available now.
What we do
Most commercial tissue culture work follows an established protocol for a known species. Research work is different: the species is new, the cultivar is difficult, or the objective is to improve an existing protocol. This is the work the laboratory does most, with industry bodies, universities, breeders and private clients.
Projects typically include one or more of: explant selection and sterilisation, culture-medium formulation, multiplication-rate trials, rooting-phase optimisation, acclimatisation loss reduction, and follow-on field or glasshouse performance assessment.
Typical projects
- New-species protocol development. A breeder, grower or research partner has a species that is not routinely tissue-cultured. We establish explants, optimise media and define a repeatable workflow.
- Cultivar-specific optimisation. An existing tissue culture protocol does not work well for a specific cultivar. We identify the limiting step and optimise it.
- Variety trials. Comparative performance of cultivars in vitro, ex vitro, or in the field, against defined metrics.
- Emerging-industry trial work. Emerging-industry species such as agave are a particular focus, and trial work in this area is work we take on.
Who we work with
Private growers and nurseries, industry bodies and research corporations, plant breeders and variety holders, universities, and conservation organisations. Research work is confidential by default; anything we publish is done with the partner's permission.
Scoping a project
To scope a research project we need the species and cultivar, the starting material available, the research question or performance target, and the intended timeframe. We then set out what is realistic, indicate cost and agree milestones. Every culture and media batch in a project is recorded in MeristemLab Software, so results can be traced to the material and media behind them.
References
- AgriFutures Australia. Our industries (emerging and levied).
- Hort Innovation. Strategic Investment Plans by industry.
Also at MeristemLab: which plant-pathogen test answers which question from MeristemLab Diagnostics, and production-record software for tissue-culture labs.